A White House-invented “hashtag” has failed to make even a dent in the ongoing Twitter conversation about the looming fiscal cliff.
As of Monday morning, the hashtag “#My2K” was used only six times between Nov. 19 and 24, according to Twitter Search. Two of those tweets were advertising spam and one was an apparent reference to the video game “NBA 2K 13.”
The hashtag — which is a bit of text added to individual tweets to delineate a shared conversation — was invented by the Obama White House and affixed to the September launch of its YouTube video campaign calling for higher taxes on wealthy Americans.
It refers to a tax increase of about $2,000 per family the Obama administration says middle-class Americans would shoulder should the Bush tax cuts expire for everyone on Jan. 1, 2013. Instead, argues the White House, taxes should be raised only on wealthy Americans.
A search on social media analysis site Topsy.com shows the “#My2K” hashtag has been used a little more than Twitter Search reveals and just 136 times “all time” for a wide variety of purposes, including to title a Twitter user’s mix tape.
Meanwhile, on YouTube, the White House has not yet attracted the grassroots videos it is seeking that are supportive of the president’s tax plan.
The New York Times reported Monday that “Already, [Obama] supporters are being asked to record YouTube videos of themselves talking about the importance of raising taxes on the rich.”
But the only videos featuring regular folks calling for higher taxes on the rich seem to be those disseminated by the White House. A search of recent YouTube uploads yielded only Obama administration produced clips.
“And so $2,200 is very important to us,” implores a woman named Tiffany on an official White House video. “It means that my children may not be able to participate in summer camp activities. It means that my children may not get the type of meal that they want to get at dinner time. It also means that maybe we can’t buy that ice cream when the ice cream truck is going to come rolling down our street.”
Raising taxes on the rich is “patriotic,” argues Dalila in another clip. “It’s about our love that we should have for country and America to do what’s best for everybody.”
In yet another White House video, a man named Ron seems to argue directly from Obama’s political playbook, insisting, “Everybody needs to pull their fair share. And if you are privileged, it seems to me that you’ve benefited from this country. And you owe a little bit more. You need to pay back a little bit more.”
Those three videos have attracted just over 48,000 total views in total. The White House has a little over 222,000 followers on YouTube.