Have you done any #Eastwooding today? No? Well, you better jump on this Internet fad fast, since the joke is already wearing thin and will likely be dead by end of day.
Eastwooding is the Internet’s fun new way of poking fun at Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood’s bizarre speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night. And it’s simple too: all you have to do is post pictures of yourself talking to an empty chair.
It’s a bit like #planking. But with more politics. And less risk for injury.
Eastwood seemed to have left many baffled when he used his speech Thursday to engage in a 10-minute conversation with “invisible Obama.” The speech -- or was it an improv sketch? – seemed to eclipse just about everything else that went on Thursday night.
It even prompted Joe Scarborough, the conservative host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," to declare that "a great night for Mitt Romney just got sidetracked by Clint Eastwood."
To pay homage to the moment, the Internet created #Eastwooding. A search for the term on Twitter pulls up dozens of photos of empty chairs – Windsors, armchairs, bergeres – with accusatory, wagging fingers pointed at them.
Some include angry-looking pets next to empty chairs.
Other times, it’s just the empty chair, occupied by “invisible Obama.” Amusing in its simplicity, no?
Obama’s own campaign got in on the trend early, with his @BarackObama account tweeting a picture overnight of the back of the president’s head as he sat in a chair marked “The President”. The caption on the pic: “This seat’s taken.”
The speech even inspired an @InvisibleObama Twitter account. Within an hour of its creation, it had more than 20,000 followers. At last check, it was approaching 50,000.
But just as the Republican party will likely put the speech behind them quickly, so too will the ever-fickle Internet. So grab a chair and take a pic now before #Eastwooding becomes as tired as #Tebowing.