The \u201cTrending\u201d tab on X offers users a place to explore beyond algorithms. There, anybody can see what anybody is saying about the hottest issues on the planet.<\/p>\n
Jay-Z chose himself to perform the Super Bowl halftime show. A Florida man on trial for murder offered a guilty plea in exchange for a Philly cheesesteak. The next \u201cHunger Games\u201d film hits theatres next month.<\/p>\n
But during the busiest month in American professional sports, and a midterm election, with the holidays approaching, \u201c#Drenchgang\u201d took center stage.<\/p>\n
The Indiana football \u201cburnerverse,\u201d a network of anonymous X users who post about the Hoosier football program, began using the hashtag early this week, while simultaneously covering their profiles in purple to indicate they joined the movement.<\/p>\n
Indiana defensive back Amare Ferrell offered insight as to where the name originated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe originally started the nickname last year, but we\u2019re kind of taking it to a new level,\u201d Ferrell said. \u201cBut it really doesn’t mean anything. As a DB, everything is basically covered. So, instead of saying \u2018covered,\u2019 we just say everything is \u2018drenched.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
X users have made the term their own with no regard for its true origin.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne drench at a time. 6 seconds a drench. Every drench has a life and history of its own. Not impacted [by] success or failure. Fast. Physical. ReDrenchless. Smart. Disciplined. Poised. #drenchgang\ud83e\udedf,\u201d one X user wrote on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Tuesday evening, \u201c#drenchgang\u201d was the most trending hashtag globally on X.<\/p>\n
One X user articulated this perfectly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is covered Everyone is drenched #drenchgang,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n
Others were skeptical.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to decide how heavily I should lean into this whole drench thing,\u201d another X user wrote.<\/p>\n
Some wanted no part of it but were dragged in involuntarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked one Indiana tweet, now my entire timeline is purple with whatever #DrenchGang is,\u201d an Ohio State burner account posted.<\/p>\n
As popular as the posts became amongst burner accounts, the movement was inclusive.<\/p>\n
Upland Brewing Company, a Bloomington based brewery, joined the fun.<\/p>\n
The official Upland account updated its profile Tuesday to reflect their participation.<\/p>\n
It now shows a purple-tinted profile picture, \u201cDrenched Upland\ud83e\udedf\u201d as the profile name, and a bio that reads \u201cDrenched with Beer for Over 25 Years \ud83e\udedf\ud83e\udedf\ud83e\udedf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upland took its marketing a step further. Known well for the Hoosier Gameday Lager, which is sold in a candy striped can, Upland teased a purple edition of the beverage with the caption, \u201cHeard we\u2019re getting #drenched with the #drenchgang Should we drop this? \ud83e\udedf #drench it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upland was not the only business to get involved.<\/p>\n
Homefield IU, a Bloomington apparel company, had posts that read \u201cDrenchfield\u201d and \u201cBreathlessly asking our Inventory Manager how many purple shirts we have on hand \ud83e\udedf.\u201d<\/p>\n
That question may become more relevant as the week progresses. Users are calling on fans to use Saturday\u2019s game against Minnesota to show off their new vessel of fandom.<\/p>\n
\u201cBREAKING\ud83e\udedf: IU vs. Minnesota is now a DRENCH OUT\ud83e\udedf wear PURPLE to show you are part of #drenchgang \ud83e\udedf,\u201d one account posted Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Several users called on members of the Indiana Athletic Department to make this happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe this is best left as a grass roots movement,\u201d IU Deputy Athletic Director Jeremy Gray wrote. \u201cI have brand guidelines to adhere to, but getting in the way of the #DrenchGang will never be on my BINGO card.\u201d<\/p>\n
He offered to use the Memorial Stadium sound system to play \u201cGiant Purple People Eater\u201d during Saturday\u2019s contest. This idea was met with pushback from X users, pointing out the song\u2019s ties to the Minnesota Vikings.<\/p>\n
Gray blamed the lack of foresight from the burnerverse.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove you all, but #drenchgang should\u2019ve thought this through before changing the school colors,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cTrending\u201d tab on X offers users a place to explore beyond algorithms. There, anybody can see what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":["post-897779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-internet","tag-internet","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}