Written by: Rianna Richards
Published on Google's Blogger.com on October 30, 2014
I never anticipated a tweet I wrote about containing Ebola on my Twitter account on October 26, 2014, would catch the attention of American business mogul and billionaire, Donald J. Trump. The most exciting part of writing something on Twitter and the opportunity to get that tweet noticed by one of the world’s most powerful men, and in fact, by Donald J. Trump himself who retweeted that tweet to more than 2.73 Million of his followers was indeed, a great honor and a blessing.
Thinking back, on the evening of October 26, 2014, which was last Saturday, I was working at home on a novel when a neighbor of mine called and said, “Rianna, I saw an eagle at your front door this afternoon, do you know what it means?” I paused on the phone; I knew it was something odd, first and foremost, I have never before seen an eagle in real life besides seeing images of these majestic birds only in books and on television. I replied, “I don’t know for sure, perhaps I should ask my friends on Twitter if they know anything about it.” We both laughed it off, thankfully neither of us dare asked any of our friends on Twitter that particular question that night, and the reason being, to be very frank about it, I did not ask this question on Twitter because I was utterly embarrassed to do so. Somehow, I knew the eagle represented something great and powerful, but I was not so certain of it, pending further research. I then suggested to my neighbor, that we do research on Google and see what results Google has in store for our quest about the symbolism of eagles. In the end, after we compared notes, my neighbor said, “Rianna, I think it means something great will happen to you; that’s my final interpretation of an eagle appearing at your front door this afternoon.” At the very moment she spoke these words, I came across another definition on Google search results: It stated, an eagle is a sign of power, leadership, strength, and vision. That’s it; my intuition immediately agreed upon the recent search result; something great is about to happen very soon, and indeed, it happened that very night: The Eagle, in fact, symbolized billionaire, Donald J. Trump.
On the night of October 26, 2014, I was debating the threat of the Ebola disease and ways to contain the spread of the virus in the United States with a friend and fellow Republican on Twitter. We’ve covered many subjects on our Twitter timelines many times before, but, our debate this evening was entirely different and much more tensed than any other previous discussions. We were discussing Ebola, the hemorrhagic disease that is responsible for the thousands of deaths now in West Africa as I am writing this blog. While tweeting and voicing our opinions on what should be done to contain the spread of the Ebola disease in the United States. Suddenly, I noticed a Twitter notification from Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump – I couldn’t believe my eyes when the tweet appeared, I think my heartbeat was beating faster than its normal rhythm because it caught me by great astonishment. I knew if he’s the real Donald Trump, he’d have the Twitter blue verified mark affixed next to his profile picture, and indeed, as I checked, it was the Official Donald J. Trump Twitter Account. He retweeted one of my tweets, and in another tweet, he mentioned my name.
"@RiannaRichards: This is why I agree with Donald Trump: They should ban flights from #Ebola infected countries from entering the U.S."
Within a minute or two, my Twitter notification went haywire; there were 84 notifications from other Twitter users; 144 favorites, and 68 retweets right after Donald J. Trump retweeted my tweet and mentioned my name on his Official Twitter page. October 26, 2014, was a historic day for an unknown person such as myself, I’ve never been mentioned many times before since the launching of my Twitter page in 2011. Here’s what I wrote in response:
Oh my gosh! Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump responded to my tweet! Really? Wow! I can't believe this, I am absolutely speechless!
Overwhelmingly, Ebola or the hemorrhagic fever has been the hottest subject of many Americans nowadays, and mainly discussed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook. Originated from Africa, Ebola has so far claimed the lives of thousands of people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, and as of now, one death in the United States (an Ebola-infected patient who arrived from West Africa by the name of Thomas Duncan). According to a chart by the New York Times Graphics Department, posted on Twitter on October 27, 2014, the cases of Ebola infections and deaths in these West African nations have risen rapidly since March 21, 2014, ending on October 25, 2014. The chart depicted the following cases and deaths as such: Guinea 1,553 cases – 926 deaths; Liberia 4,665 cases – 2,705 deaths; Sierra Leone 3,896 cases – 1,281 deaths; Nigeria 20 cases – 8 deaths.
It is my understanding that Ebola is a deadly and dreadful disease and Americans must work together to contain and prevent such horrific disease from entering our country in the future.
