[imagesource: Francesco Carta Fotografo]

What exactly is happening on Twitter right now? Is it a red flag?

Yes, indeed it is. A couple actually.

The latest viral internet meme on the platform is making excessive use of the red flag emoji to point out examples of warning-sign-worthy behaviour or statements.

It is largely spoken about in the dating world, but as the New York Post points out, it’s not just used when “looking for Mr Right or accidentally bump[ing] into Mrs Wrong”.

Generally, a red flag is that “oh no” moment when warning bells go off about a person who is showing signs that there is something a bit off.

While a red flag is a serious marker for someone to decide whether to run for the hills or to stick around, Twitter is giving it a light-hearted spin.

Thanks to the red flag emoji, Twitter users can just punctuate a tweet with the symbol, or even use a whole row of them to show something is off.

Take a look:

“me and my ex are still friends” 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— 🧘🏾‍♀️ (@mykelrenee) October 12, 2021

TEXT SLOW BUT ALWAYS ON SOCIAL MEDIA 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— PEGEE (@VH1PNUT___) October 12, 2021

“My favourite movie is Fight Club.” 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— Andres Ghoulsman (@pocketwriter) October 13, 2021

From sports teams to restaurants to global brands, everyone is out there flagging things as they see fit:

“I’ve never had a Pepsi in my life” 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— Pepsi (@pepsi) October 13, 2021

“I’m not on Twitter” 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— Twitter (@Twitter) October 12, 2021

“I’m not a Crocs person”🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— It’s Croctober! (@Crocs) October 13, 2021

Protagonist who notices the girl only when she takes off her glasses and gets a makeover 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) October 14, 2021

One Twitter user even made fun of the trend, stating people who use red flags are, in fact, red flags:

when they tweet the red flag 🚩 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 pic.twitter.com/f5N3CiLA2w

— sac (@sacc1108_) October 14, 2021

Others admitted to ignoring red flags:

“Me pretending I don’t see any red flags in my life”🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 pic.twitter.com/lX88f1Pjdm

— YOGITHA♡ (@YogithaNandini) October 14, 2021

If you’ve been unaware of this trend up until now, it probably means that you don’t spend enough time on Twitter, which as you saw above is a red flag now.

[source:nypost]