Meet the fans behind the daily AlDub hashtags

The split-screen romance between Alden Richards and Yaya Dub on Eat Bulaga is a social media phenomenon, with a record so far of 12.1 million tweets on Twitter during the love team's first date on September 19.

 

But who makes the daily hashtags? It's not the Eat Bulaga staff, but a group of dedicated AlDub fans who call themselves the "AlDub trendsetters."

 

This group is composed of admins who handle official AlDub fan and parody accounts, who meet up every night to decide what hashtag to use the following episode.

 

"We have a group chat and pitch the hashtags we want," Rosemarlyn Cunningham, one AlDub trendsetter, told GMA News Online.

 

"Our tweets are not made at random, we make the official hashtags because of really compelling reasons," she said, adding that they also base their hashtags in the events that happened in the Kalyeserye.

 

Cunningham said that Thursday's hashtag, #ALDUBOurMissionisLove, was inspired by Pope Francis' message of love during his visit in the United States.

 

Contrary to popular belief, the trendsetters insist that there's no goal or agenda behind the hashtags. "We just do this out of fun," Katya Canovas, the "mommy" of the group, said. "It just comes naturally, which makes it fun. We make a million tweets everyday because people love Alden and Maine, not because we force them to."

 

If there's anything she learned from the Kalyeserye, it's honoring one's word. "Sabi nga ni Lola Nidora, 'Ang salitang binitawan, dapat pangalagaan.'"

 

Excited for second Saturdate

 

The AlDub trendsetters admit that they're excited with Alden and Yaya Dub's second date, following Lola Nidora's announcement Thursday allowing Alden to visit his love interest in Lola's mansion.

 

While the much awaited date is a few days away, they still do not have a hashtag for then. "Aantayin namin kung ano ang mangyayari sa Biyernes, then we'll talk about it," Melmar Tamayo, another trendsetter, said.

 

The trendsetters also maintain that they do not intend to compete with other fandoms. "We just tweet out of love, because we love AlDub," Canovas said. —JST, GMA News