EntertainmentMusicSocial MediaWho’s the Real G.O.A.T? Controversy Trails Twitter’s GOAT Emoji

LAGOS — Social media platform, Twitter has released automatic GOAT emoji additions for the hashtags of select icons in the sports and entertainment industry.

The microblogging app introduced it on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, and a number of celebrities get to have this associated with them.

GOAT, an acronym of “Greatest Of All Time” which is commonly used in sports when referring to players who are widely considered the most talented, praises not just exceptional athletes but also successful musicians and other public figures. It is often pictorially represented with the emoji or image of a literal goat, with horns sticking out prominently.

Some Nigerian celebrities were honoured with the new GOAT emoji. Among them are Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Olamide, and the reality TV stars; Laycon, Erica Nlewedim, Tacha, and Maria.

The emoji was first awarded to football giants Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The GOAT symbol appears when these celebrities trend or when their names are searched with a hashtag.

Upon Twitter’s introduction of the GOAT emoji, many prominent sportspersons and celebrities became the top trending hashtags in Nigeria.

But the development has sparked off debates between fans as they championed their favourites as the number one GOAT in their field of expertise.

As soon as football fans realized that both Ronaldo and Messi’s hashtags had the new GOAT emoji, the battle over which one was the greatest erupted.

Also, a furious debate is ongoing between Wizkid and Davido’s fans as Wizkid’s fans accuse Davido of paying Twitter to get the emoji, owing to the fact that Wizkid was the first Nigerian celebrity to be so honoured.

Since the emoji has pretty much appeared alongside the names of celebrated rival figures. One begins to wonder, who’s the real G.O.AT?