Trending topics: #GotaGoHome goes viral on social media
In recent months, it was social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok that this country's youth took to express their frustrations on increasing inflation coupled with the fuel shortage or to ridicule government leaders with creative content.
For example, a Tik Tok video of some youth performing the Presidential theme song used by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's 2019 campaign team crossed a million views after it went viral on other platforms as well. The youths sang the song to entertain people lined up at fuel sheds.
Coinciding with protests organised by opposition parties this week, a Twitter hashtag # GotaGoHome emerged as a top trend from Monday onwards. Twitter users demanded the Government officials to resign by accepting failure in managing the country's economy.
The next day, Government spin doctors were in action with a coun
ter hashtag: #WeAreWithGota and Government affiliated individuals and accounts started to push it to make it the top trending topic in the country. Whoever came up with
that hashtag did a favour for the Opposition as it triggered more users to use the earlier hashtag. It ended up becoming a top trend for a couple of days.