Yes. You’ve seen it. You’ve probably even re-Twitted it the other day, when Obama addressed the nation on the situation of the debt and economy. The thing is – whatever can start a buzz, catch up in the trend, raise awareness – it all goes now.
The origins, though, go to the very core of the ongoing on-and-on-and-on debates over the federal budget stalemate with Democrats and Republicans squaring off against each other. And some of us have been slowly, but surely, losing patience over it.
And this is how the tag #fuckyouwashington (Pardon my French) has been born. Impatience with non-ending debates and the politicians behind it - triggered the running-out patience of the new media pundit Jeff Jarvis, and he launched the catchphrase #fuckyouwashington.
Birth of #fuckyouwashington
After the news on Friday that budget talks collapsed again, Jeff Jarvis, a professor of journalism at City University of New York with high-profile stints at Entertainment Weekly and People magazines under his belt, took to Twitter. On Saturday, he began venting his frustration from his account, @JeffJarvis.
First: “Hey, Washington assholes, it's our country, our economy, our money. Stop fucking with it.” Then, “People, it’s time to get fucking pissed off.” Later, “Can we start a Twitter chant: FUCK YOU, WASHINGTON! Pass it on.”
And with that, a phenomenon was born.
He tweeted so much that Twitter imposed its rate limit, which may have led to a separate account for FuckYouWashington.
Jarvis continued to tweet the same message, soon asking his followers to help transform it into a digital phenomenon, writing, “Seriously, folks, if we can’t use this tool to recapture the public sphere and debate, what is it good for?”
When followers suggested he was drunk, he demurred: “Wish I were.” (He later admitted in a blog post he had been drinking wine.)
When others tried to add to the phrase, he said it spoiled the concise message. When even more people accused him of “coarsening discourse,” he responded “No, you’re trying to control my discourse.”
Jeff Howe, contributing editor at Wired, tweeted: “Holy shit, @JeffJarvis has gone all Howard Beale on us. I love it. And I feel it. Give us our future back, fuckers. #FUCKYOUWASHINGTON.”
By the end of a weekend, a face known in the media industry but not outside it moved past Peter Finch and Howard Beale. He had his own Internet meme.
What started in anger left him pleasantly surprised.
I think it’s about time I’ll join in this Twitter conversation: “Make love, not war. Give money to your people, not to the enemies. Learn how to save money. Cut back on Hill's mistresses #fuckyouwashington”.
And you know what? Judging by the number of followerson Jeff's Twitter (76,121), I'd say there are a lot of bad motherf*ckers out there who want for the government to f*cking make a decision already...
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