What exactly is the #RespectForCarter trend about?
If you happened to venture on to Twitter today you might have come across the name Carter Reynolds. Actually, you definitely did because the #RespectForCater hashtag was trending not only in Ireland but around the world.
It has made an awful lot of people wonder, who on earth is Carter Reynolds?
Carter is a 19-year old ‘Vine star’. He’s not the only one, there’s a whole group of people, many of whom are teenagers, who have found worldwide fame using the social media platform Vine.
Carter, for example, has 2.39 million followers on Twitter and 4.3 million followers on Vine, where he shares short video clips with his fans. Such as this:
Now though, Carter has become better known for her personal life than his videos. A month ago there was a video leaked online in which Carter was seen pressuring his then 16-year old girlfriend (also a Vine star) into oral sex.
Carter went on to claim that his iCloud account was hacked and that the happenings in the video were a “misunderstanding”.
He tweeted an apology, but then appeared to take that back as he went into a huge online rant about how his girlfriend had cheated on him. The LiveStream has since been deleted but that didn't stop the drama.
maggie is saying i'm the reason why she's in the hospital… lol nah you're just crazy and psychotic. fuck you.
— Carter Reynolds (@carterreynolds) July 20, 2015
His followers, and many other Twitter users were naturally upset about the ordeal and he has faced extreme backlash online.
The #RespectForCarter trend was started this morning by his fans in an attempt to defend him after he was removed from a conference for YouTube and Vine ‘stars’ in California, VidCon.
apparently i was a threat to the people at the hotel and they were concerned with my safety as well as the safety of the people around me
— Carter Reynolds (@carterreynolds) July 24, 2015
The hashtag has been met with fierce resistance however, and it doesn’t look like Carter is redeeming himself in the eyes of social media.
why is #RespectForCarter even a hashtag when he can't even respect a girl .
— alaskan bullworm (@bIackdoors) July 25, 2015
#RespectForCarter Honestly praying for yall pic.twitter.com/4Fh1FzBXVz
— Moonlight (@CheeseFryDallas) July 25, 2015
why should I respect someone who doesn't have any respect for women and has brainwashed little girls #RespectForCarter
— elena (@influencedmatt) July 25, 2015