Why are people putting ‘FBPE’ in their Twitter profile names?
A campaigner wearing a t-shirt in support of the pro-Remain cause. (Picture: Yui Mok) - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Anti-Brexit campaigners on Twitter are referencing the hashtag #FBPE in their posts and profile names to help build up a grassroots community of pro-EU posters.
The hashtag – which stands for 'Follow Back, Pro EU' – was created after campaigners sensed there was appetite for more grassroots networking on Twitter. Campaigners claimed that a pro-EU version of 'Followback Friday' had performed so well it branched into something bigger.
In a video posted to Twitter, Mike Galsworthy from Scientists4EU explained how it is helping with community building within the movement: 'It's a crucible for building up arguments… so we can all work together in crowdsourcing new information, or crowdsourcing responses to the major tweets and ideas out there.'
He disagreed with any criticism that this was creating an 'echo chamber' on Twitter, stating that it had been great for a clarifications of ideas.
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'On Facebook you've got lots of echo chambers. You've got lots of communities off the radar, whereas on Twitter you've got one big community… It's one big playground.
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'If the pro-EU community can empower itself and empower each other… the more we are connected, the more we are a community working together.'
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