6 Facts About the #darkNL Twitter Trend

Posted by On November 18, 2014 1 Comment

As we close in on the one year anniversary of the power outages that caused most residents of the province to be in the dark last winter, we decided to take a look back at the Twitter trend that these outages spawned.  As people were trying to stay warm, they flocked to social media on their phones to try to get updates on when the power was going to come back on.

While there was plenty of information passed around, there wasn’t a single source where you could get something a little less official than what was posted on CBC/VOCM/Telegram trifecta of websites.  That was until the #darkNL Twitter trend caught steam and allowed users to share info, vent, and even make jokes.

Even close to a year after the outages, the hashtag persists as there have been over 270 tweets in the last month alone containing the #darkNL tag.  And with some questioning the upgrades and readiness of the new backup generator in Holyrood, #darkNL looks like it will be going strong into 2015.

We’ve gone back through the tweets from the outages last year and brought you 6 facts about the #darkNL hashtag below.

 

1. James McLeod Appears to be the Creator of the #darkNL hashtag

The earliest appearance of #darknl on Twitter can actually be attributed to user @NikkiZphiB back in October 2012, but it was a tweet about hair and flat irons.  But the first appearance of #darknl in relation to the power outages in Newfoundland and Labrador appears to be by James McLeod of the Telegram on January 2 2014 at 12:50pm.

Shortly after that first tweet he suggested using the #darknl hashtag for all power outage related updates.  This tweet was retweeted only 11 times, but got the message out:

 

2. User @allanbryne had the Most Retweeted #darkNL tweet

Allan Byrne channeled Homer to poke some fun at the crew working at the Holyrood power plant.  His tweet of a confused Homer was retweeted 338 as well as sent around in several other variations of this picture.

 

3. George Stroumboulopoulos Had the Most Reach of Any #darkNL Tweet

George Stroumboulopoulos was the Twitter user who had the biggest “reach” who used the #darkNL hashtag.  On January 6th, he tweeted out his wishes of warmth to his more than 500,000 followers.

 

4. Allan Hawco had the Most Retweeted #darkNL Photo

Allan Hawco’s picture of himself shovelling out his parents’ back door to their house was the most retweeted picture during the outages.  The picture of him getting ready to start clearing the snow that was 3/4 of the way up the door was retweeted 140 times.

And in case you were wondering, Jake Doyle always finishes the job:

 

5. Most Retweeted Video of #darkNL was “The Light and Power Boys

This video featuring the music of Bill Luffman paying tribute to the crew at Newfoundland Power seemed appropriate for what was going on in the province at the time.  It was shared by a number of different people during the blackout.

6. Over 1700 #darkNL Tweets Have Been Tweeted

Since James McLeod suggested the hashtag on January 2nd over 1700 tweets have been tweeted that have included the #darknl hashtag, the majority of which came during the major power outages in early January.  With the power out, temperatures well below freezing, and tempers soaring, people were searching for updates.  And while the radio has typically been the major source of news in these types of situations, I’d be willing to be there are more houses with Twitter enabled cell phones than battery powered radios.

As such, people jumped to Twitter (and Facebook) to pass along any news or updates they could gather.  When #darkNL was suggested, it didn’t take long for the hashtag to spread and quickly become a go-to source for news updates.

Your stories

Did you use #darkNL to stay in the loop last year?  Do you have any comments or stories about it?  Let us know in the comments.