Shadowhunters fans surpass 8 million tweets in support of season 4, raise $5,500 for The Trevor Project
With close to 100,000 signatures, over 8 million tweets, and $5,500 raised for The Trevor Project. The Shadowhunters fandom continues to fight passionately for a season 4. Here’s how you can help #SaveShadowhunters!
I will be the first to admit that I never expected to be writing this article, not because I didn’t think the ShadowFam could reach 8 million tweets and coordinate a fundraiser in less than a week (I know they can), but because this season 4 cancellation of Shadowhunters was so incredibly unexpected. Did I listen to Ruelle on my drive home from work after I got the cancellation news? Yes. Did I get emotional when “This Is The Hunt” coincidentally played first after I switched Spotify to shuffle play? Also yes.
Because of the schedule for seasons 1 and 2, it seemed likely that season 3 would follow suit and premiere in early 2018, but when a date in late spring was announced at NYCC last year, it took fans by surprise. With season 3B originally scheduled for August (a date that is also a few months later than when 2B aired last year), this new jump all the way to spring 2019 feels like a slap in the face to many fans. It’s understandable that the network and the show’s creators would want to keep those final 2 extra episodes in succession with the rest of 3B, but it’s now possible that season 3 will be stretched out longer than an entire year. Not to mention, this Halloween special we heard about will likely also air in the spring.
We do have reasons to be grateful though. Unlike other shows who were canceled this year without a conclusion to the story, Shadowhunters will have another 3-4 weeks of filming for the additional, final two episodes, and we still have 12 new episodes to celebrate when they (finally) air next spring. But for hundreds of thousands of fans, a 12-episode season 3B as the series finale is just not acceptable, and they’ve united as a community worldwide to make their voice heard.
The strategy behind #SaveShadowhunters
And they’re not just tweeting and commenting; they’ve constructed a full-out website where they’ve compiled strategies and information about how to participate in the fight on and off social media for a renewal. In addition to the website, fans have also put together a 4-page Google doc with contacts, links, comment scripts and email templates for fans to use who are interested in contacting networks directly, along with a separate guide for Twitter strategy.
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The hashtag #SaveShadowhunters trended in the #1 spot worldwide for hours following the cancellation news, continuing to rank worldwide over the next several days. Using Hashtracking, we’ve looked into just how many tweets have been posted so far from five of the most popular hashtags being used by the fandom and the totals surpass 8 million (as of Sunday, June 10).
#SaveShadowhunters is the most popular tag by far, with over 4.7 million tweets, and #PickUpShadowhunters follows with over 2.3 million. Twitter accounts dedicated specifically to the show have also united to create planned tweet sessions using alternative tags. So far, #NotOurLastHunt and #SaveTheShadowWorld are both close to .5 million tweets each, and #RenewShadowhunters also has a quarter of a million tweets.
Support from the Shadowhunters cast and crew
The Shadowhunters cast continues to fight and participate in the #SaveShadowhunters hashtag as well, and while I could post every single one of them here, it seems much more efficient and impactful to post this incredible photo collage filled with (just a portion of) the tweets from current and former cast members:
The cast encouraged us, they did not give up, neither did we! We are all together for one purpose: #SaveShadowhunters. This series is so incredible, mythological and with diversity. WE LOVE SHADOWHUNTERS AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT! #PickUpShadowhunters @Kat_McNamara @ch8i pic.twitter.com/DXXzFYsnoo
— Dayana (@xxmcnamara) June 6, 2018
Focusing energy into The Trevor Project campaign
A Change.org petition was quickly started to gather signatures, and by the time this article is live on our site, it may have crossed 100,000 names. Wanting to do something impactful with the energy and passion from the surge of fans who took to social media out of anger for the shows’ cancellation, a donation page for The Trevor Project was also created and is being managed by a Shadowhunters entertainment news site called Basic Shadowhunters Stuff. As of Sunday, June 10, over $5,550 had been raised.
Brie Burnham of Basic Shadowhunters Stuff said that while their site wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of donating to The Trevor Project, they saw that many fans were starting to donate to the organization in honor of Shadowhunters. “We sort of realized that it would be more useful to have everyone giving in one place, so we consolidated it,” Burnham said.
“There was a lot of anger and frustration and hopelessness going around, and some fans started talking about how it would be useful to channel that anger into putting something good into the world, both to raise awareness and also showcase the generosity of the Shadowhunters fandom,” she explained. “We are passionate, dedicated, and worldwide and we wanted to show off the power of our fandom to do good.”
Contribute to the growing campaign HERE!
Fans who are donating to The Trevor Project, a campaign which has now been translated into multiple languages by Shadowhunters fans around the world, are also able to write a comment and share their experience as being part of the Shadowhunters fandom. After scrolling through just a few dozen posts, it’s very clear that the community that was created and developed around this fantasy series was about so much more than the Shadow World alone.
Showrunner Todd Slavkin has showed support for the fundraiser, but Freeform has been silent so far. Several fans reported that after they had posted the donation link on the official Shadowhunters Facebook page, that the links were later deleted. However, It’s unclear whether someone who runs the account is actually deleting the posts, or if Facebook is filtering them out as spam links without Freeform’s knowledge. Regardless, we hope that Freeform will help support the fundraising campaign by sharing the donation site on their official social media pages soon.
Next: Lucifer only has one week left to be saved!
Have you participated in #SaveShadowhunters, signed the Change.org petition, and donated to The Trevor Project yet? What are you waiting for? Go show your support for this show and its inclusive, international community!