The most influential hashtaggers of 2015

The most influential hashtaggers of 2015

They used the power of social media to rally Torontonians to their causes

The Anti-Troll

In 2012, Guthrie launched the first criminal lawsuit against an alleged Twitter troll. A verdict is expected in the new year. She plays a central role at advocacy organization Women in Toronto Politics, which has the hashtag #WiTOpoli. Her TEDxToronto talk on e-harassment has been viewed 44,000 times.



The King

Our tweeter-in-chief also happens to be a city councillor. He tweets on average 6.6 times per day. In 2015, he sparked #deadraccoonTO, told Drake-dissing rapper Meek Mill he wasn’t welcome here, photoshopped an image of himself with a man bun and called out Drake for high-fiving Raptor-killer Paul Pierce (“Yo, Drake. What the hell is this?”).



The Kitchen Crusader

When pastry chef Kate Burnham sued her former colleagues for sexual harassment, Agg, the Black Hoof owner and super-tweeter with 11,400 followers, unleashed a firehose of 140-character support. She also organized a Kitchen Bitches conference on poisonous industry culture, convinced top chefs to speak and wrote a NYT op-ed.



The Demagogue

Police carding was the year’s buzziest issue, and Desmond Cole was its public face. He wrote a Toronto Life cover story about it, and landed a radio show on Newstalk 1010 and a column in the Toronto Star. He met with the mayor, persuading Tory to reverse his position on carding. And now changes in provincial legislation are in the offing.

