Brian Hineline ./Retna Ltd./Corbis
Hell hath no fury like a Bieber fan scorned.
After Twitter adjusted the algorithm for its “trending topics” on Friday — the site’s collection of the most tweeted words or phrases that always included teen heartthrob Justin Bieber — fans struck back to get their pint-sized singer back on the chart.
Some variation of the phrase “Justin Bieber” has been on the site’s list for months. But when Twitter tweaked the formula to penalize items that were perpetually popular (rather than actually trending), Bieber dropped from the list of “trending topics” entirely.
But by Sunday, fans had gotten Bieber back on the charts, spelling his name either Twieber or Jieber to get around the algorithm’s fix. The result? Bieber fans now own two spots in Twitter’s list and even inspired loyalists for another tween favorite to follow suit. Jick Nonas — a play on Disney singer Nick Jonas — hit Twitter’s list early Monday as well.