Viewers get in the swim to tweet about 'Sharknado,' making Syfy disaster film a trending topic

July 12, 2013 at 9:00PM

NEW YORK — What happens when a tornado whips up hundreds of sharks and hurls them at Los Angeles?

Syfy network's "Sharknado" suggests that such a siege can take a big chomp out of social media.

Aired Thursday night, the disaster thriller was a trending topic on Twitter as it inspired amazed, often jeering messages to reflect viewer amusement at the film's jaw-dropping premise.

One tweeter expressed satisfaction that here was a natural disaster that finally makes Aquaman useful. Another jokingly questioned the film's scientific authenticity. Another described the sharknado as "an act of cod."

"Sharknado" was the night's most social program, generating nearly 5,000 tweets per minute at its peak. The network says it scored 387,000 social media mentions during its premiere.

Syfy says "Sharknado" was seen by nearly 1.37 million viewers.

about the writer

about the writer

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.