Top five local trends put Bay on international map

It has been a trendy year for Nelson Mandela Bay, with locals putting the Friendly City on the map for various reasons.

From Motherwell-born tweleb Taka Tina and his antics to northern areas dancer Ivana Campbell, Port Elizabeth’s finest have made international waves.

Three other noise makers that made it to the top five local trends are  #KwaJoe, #ShareTheBay and ooDabs (our aunts) #SithiAba.

But the big question is, where are they now and how has life been after they broke rank.

Taka Tina has found the perfect balance between his personal life and his threads.

It has been more than a year since Taka Tina became a tweleb and still no-one knows who the real Taka Tina is.

Taka Tina remains the Best Threader on Twitter and the Funniest Tweep of the year.

Taka Tina’s #KwaJoe, the Zwide Tavern, trended for two weeks in October.

However Kwa Joe owner Mongameli “Playa” Ngqokwe said people were disappointed to learn that you could have clean fun at Kwa Joe.

“After we trended on social media, and the article went out on The Herald, people from all over the country would come and see the place,” he said.

“But they don’t stay.

“After they see that Kwa Joe is not like the pictures that went viral they move on.”

Ngqokwe added that although business was good he had hoped to host a few more events in December.

And then there was #sharethebay.

In September the municipality flew in a group of 12 celebrities, including some of SA’s top influencers, as part of its strategy to host the celebrities to promote #tourismmonth.

The celebrities included influencers Linda Moeketsi, Mbau, Nyovest, Katlego Selekane, Babalwa Mneno, Nwabisa Joka, Tebogo Lerole, Carpo and Tumi Mohale.

Three international influencers, Sincerely Ward, Chanita Foster and Allana Foster, were also among the group.

They came, enjoyed an all-expenses-paid four-day trip during which they walked with giraffes, had a boat cruise and helicopter flips, and then they were gone.

Only five — Mneno, Moeketsi, Mohale, Selekane and Chanita Foster — posted to Instagram and Twitter.

After the celebrities failed to ignite #sharethebay during their stay, the tag trended for two days on Twitter, with hundreds of people questioning the concept.

The metro however, said the campaign was a success.

Now the municipality is running various activations under #sharethebay as well as a ‘Explore the Bay', competition where holidaymakers can snap and share all their Bay moments using #sharethebay and potentially win a share of R50 000.

Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism marketing co-ordinator Erenei Louw said since #sharethebay trended on Twitter there had been a big spike in activity from its media monitoring.

“There are more people who are aware of the hashtag and having started to use it,” Louw said.

People from the Friendly City have reclaimed the tagline and have posted more than 40,000 images on social media.

In October, videos of Thobela Kandanisa’s aunts went viral after they were shared on Facebook.