#Ebowla

Submission 21,155

Part of a series on 2014 Ebola Outbreak. [View Related Entries]

About

#Ebowla, a portmanteau of the words "bowl" and "Ebola", is a tongue-in-cheek hashtag that began circulating on Twitter after news media outlets reported that New York-based doctor Craig Spencer had gone bowling in Brooklyn after contracting the Ebola virus in West Africa.

Origin

On October 23rd, 2014, The New York Times^[1] reported that doctor Craig Spencer, who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea, Africa, had been placed in isolation at Bellevue Hospital Center after testing positive for the virus. The article also revealed that Spencer had traveled on the subway and visited a bowling alley in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Following the news, Twitter users began joking about the doctor's bowling alley visit with the hashtag #Ebowla.^[3]

Spread

That evening actor Jason Biggs joked that the doctor went bowling intentionally for the puns on Twitter,^[3] receiving upwards of 870 favorites and 520 retweets in the next 24 hours. According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,^[4] there were over 2,100 tweets containing the keyword "ebowla" in the first 24 hours.

News Media Coverage

On October 23rd, The New York Times^[5] Well blog reported that it would be difficult for Ebola to spread on a bowling ball or any other hard, dry surfaces. On October 24th, Time Magazine^[6] published an op-ed by writer Charlotte Alter titled "The #Ebowla Jokes Need to Stop," which criticized the Twitter jokes and those who scrutinized Dr. Spencer and his character. In the coming days, additional news sites reported on the hashtag, including Epoch Times,^[7] The Daily Dot^[8] and E! Online.^[9]