Okay, admit it! I use IGN. I use the site a fair amount actually.
Probably more than most people I know. Not just for video games, but
occasionally for TV and movies as well. (PROTIP: Don't read IGN's
spoiler-filled TV reviews until after you've already watched the episode.) I also follow IGN's Twitter account, IGNcom.

But until a few days ago, I had never thought about my relationship in IGN. On August 6 IGN ran a contest through Twitter. The tweet in question read:

Want a Droplitz PSN code? Random RT of this post gets it! Closing at 12:01 PM PST. #iloveign

So
by retweeting (reposting another user's message), you're entered to win
a copy of Blitz Arcades' new puzzle game Droplitz. I did just that, and
then watched as my friends did the same. Then I saw Jensonb, the rebel
that he is, post this:

#ihateign (Yay for random acts of inconsequential defiance/rebellion)

For those of you not familiar with all of Twitter's weird conventions, #iloveign and #ihateign are hashtags, which help give context to tweets and facilitate searches for specific topics.

But what is the purpose
of the #iloveign hashtag? It could make it easier to find all the
contest entries among other replies and retweets, but why use
#iloveign? Why not an alternate hashtag that's more contextually
relevant? Are they testing what length IGN's readers will go to in
order to promote the site? Trying to create a trending topic to gain
even more visibility and even more popularity?

But I don't love IGN. I don't
even have an account. IGN's just another site that I happen to use from
time to time. Do I love IGN? No. And most of the people using the
#iloveign hashtag probably don't either. It's hard to love IGN when
things like #iloveign exist.