Russian words are now among the trending topics on Twitter, since the website started supporting Cyrillic hashtags.
Hashtags on Twitter are used to turn a word into a topic: in order to do so, you need to put the hash sign in front of it.
Inspired by Twitter’s decision, Russian users were quick to send a local swear word to the top of the popular-topics chart, leaving non-Russian users lost, guessing as to what this word could mean.
There are currently more than 820,000 Russian users registered on Twitter. Even Russian President Medvedev is a keen Twitter user. An active internet-surfer and keen fan of new electronic gadgets, he registered his Twitter account back in June 2010 while visiting the website’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.
Recently, at the Kremlin’s request, Twitter administrators had to shut down a fake account which was professedly posting information from Medvedev’s official micro-blog.
The false micro-blog looked very similar to Medvedev’s real account and contained posts on both domestic and foreign political issues. The blog had over 42,000 followers, who apparently believed they were reading Medvedev’s tweets.
Such “alternative” accounts of Russian leaders have been hugely popular with Twitter users. Most of those post funny or politically sharp tweets, fearlessly mocking the country’s politicians.
One of the brightest examples is the account “belonging” to a worm, spotted on one of the Kremlin’s plates being used by Tver governor Dmitry Zelenin during an important reception. The sharp-tongued insect was continuously mocking all participants in the gourmet scandal.