Stock market sell-off sparks ominous trending topics on social media

A broad sell-off in markets across the globe prompted foreboding messages to trend on social media Monday, as a combination of economic and geopolitical unrest sparked fears that troubled times are ahead. The hashtag #Black Monday was trending on social media platform X after Japanese stocks suffered their largest single-day decline since Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 22%, triggering the beginning of a global market decline. The market meltdowns intensified throughout the morning, spreading to Europe and the U.S. as the words “The Dow” and “Great Depression” began trending on the site. Terms linked to the Biden-Harris administration also took hold, with #KamalaCrash becoming a top hashtag, apparently in reference to Vice President Harris, the Democrat nominee for president. “Bidenomics,” the administration’s name for its economic policies, was also trending, showing up in more than 50,000 posts. But it wasn’t just the stock markets driving ominous messages to trend in the social media space. The term “Middle East” was cited in 156,0000 posts amid fears that escalating tensions between Israel and Iran could expand into broader conflict in the region, and the situation contributed to the term “WWIII” trending on X, with more than 67,000 posts mentioning the potential of a third World War breaking out.