Hashtags

APRIL

#BringBackOurGirls

The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by extremist group Boko Haram grabbed international headlines after Nigerians used Twitter to raise awareness.

MAY

#Elevatorgate

After leaked footage showed Jay Z fighting with sister-in-law Solange Knowles in a New York City hotel elevator as Beyoncé stood to the side, the Internet exploded with theories about why.

MAY

#YesAllWomen

News that disturbed college student Elliot Rodger’s killing spree in Santa Barbara, Calif., may have been motivated by misogyny inspired women to share experiences of sexism and violence.

JUNE

#IceBucketChallenge

Millions of people, including Bill Gates (below), uploaded videos of themselves getting doused with ice water to help raise more than $100 million for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research.

JULY

#GazaUnderAttack vs. #IsraelUnderFire

During the seven-week war between Israel and Hamas, many took sides, using #GazaUnderAttack or #IsraelUnderFire to share opinions, images and reports of the conflict.

AUGUST

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown

Following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, many young black men shared “good” vs. “bad” photos of themselves to show how images could be used to vilify them after a similar tragedy.

SEPTEMBER

#WhyIStayed

In the wake of the security-camera footage showing Ray Rice punching now wife Janay, domestic-abuse victims shared their own reasons for staying in abusive relationships.

SEPTEMBER

#OccupyCentral

In order to communicate with one another– and the world–pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong’s Central District posted photos and messages to social media.

NOVEMBER

#CosbyMeme

As part of a PR stunt, Bill Cosby’s team asked fans to create Cosby-themed memes. They did–using them to bring up past rape allegations, which have dominated headlines since.

DECEMBER

#ICantBreathe

After a grand jury failed to indict a police officer for holding Eric Garner in an illegal choke hold–which led to the man’s death–thousands rallied for justice, echoing Garner’s last words.