TV5 news anchor Gretchen Ho shared the unusual surge of her social media followers.
“There has been a strange rapid increase in my following over the past days, accounts made either 2020 or 2021. Who’s experiencing the same?”
There has been a strange rapid increase in my following over the past days, accounts made either 2020 or 2021. Who's experiencing the same?
— Gretchen (@gretchenho) May 17, 2021
Ho then connected the surge in the upcoming 2022 elections and said the keyboard warriors are prepping for a gargantuan task.
“Seems like the keyboard soldiers are getting ready and already positioning themselves for a wild, social media-centric election campaign this 2022!!”
Seems like the keyboard soldiers are getting ready and already positioning themselves for a wild, social media-centric election campaign this 2022!!
— Gretchen (@gretchenho) May 17, 2021
Meanwhile, Ho is not the first broadcaster to notice a surge in followers.
In December 2020, Kapuso broadcast-journalist Raffy Tima and Kapamilya broadcast-journalist Jeff Canoy also experienced the same.
In their separate tweets, the two journalists shared their unusual experiences. According to them, there was a surge in their twitter followers from newly created accounts with zero followers.
Hmmm… anyone here experienced a big surge of new followers with new accounts and with 0 followers lately? I counted 85 just this morning. Something coming up?
— Raffy Tima (@raffytima) December 11, 2020
Good morning to the surge of new followers with zero Twitter history today. pic.twitter.com/5q627NozIb
— Jeff Canoy (@jeffcanoy) December 2, 2020
Social media has become a vital factor in the previous election and is believed to play another crucial role in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
Duterte’s win in the 2016 Presidential election has greatly attributed to the social media pages and troll farms that effectively pushed Duterte’s agenda on social media.
Even after winning the election, Government social media trolls continue to flourish with the aim of flooding social media feeds with pro-Government propaganda and in effect drown legitimate criticisms and critical voices against the Administration.
