#Hashtag Humor

Comedian Baratunde Thurston, Web editor for The Onion, is using Twitter as an entertainment medium, organizing various tongue-in-cheek hashtag groups to skewer all aspects of American society, from politics to pundits to popular culture, in general. "Twitter hashtag groups are mini-grassroots movements that are quickly assembled and demolished and malleable and fun and they're just a great way to mess with people," Thurston says. No one is spared: some of the hashtag groups he's organized so far include #howblackareyou and #WorldsThinnestBooks [example: "Neo-con alternatives to war"]. And now he's putting together a new one. His latest tweet asks:

Thinking of seeing #NewMoon tomorrow and doing a live hate tweet of the experience. Interested?

Thurston also does a pretty good send-up of Tech conference speaker peppiness [see his talk at this past week's Web 2.0 Expo in Manhattan, below]. Who knew Twitter could be so amusing?