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When the news was reported that Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, would file for bankruptcy, social media outlets exploded with anguished tweets and memorial photos honoring the iconic snack. Who knew the $1 twin pack had such a devoted following?

 

I myself am a Ho Ho fan. And I will mourn the loss of them as well as my meticulous — some would say obsessive-compulsive — way to eat them. It involves carefully peeling off the chocolate coating in the largest pieces possible, unrolling the Ho Ho without cracking the cake, and stuffing the entire thing in my mouth.

 

Back to Twinkies, I confess that I didn't know much about them until today's news. Here are five things I learned from checking Tumbl r, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook:

 

The news caused a mad rush to supermarkets across the country to stock up on Twinkies and other Hostess snack cakes. Some users found only empty shelves, but others lucked out and piled boxes into their carts, as evidenced by thousands of Instagram photos. But some people may be purchasing Twinkies as an investment. I learned I may have to pay as much as $5,000 for a single Twinkie in the future, according to an eBay  screenshot posted on Tumblr.

 

 

I also found out how to make my own Twinkies at home, thanks to a post from @canyoustayfordinner on Pinterest. All it takes is a piece of foil shaped around a spice jar to make the Twinkie mold, a clean nail to make a hole in the cake for injecting the filling and a jar of marshmallow cream, along with a few kitchen staples.

 

 

But the demise of Twinkies has also sparked political outcries, calling for a Hostess bailout, as well as a condemnation of unions and liberals that were blamed for the Hostess labor dispute and resulting insolvency.

 

 

I also found out that cigarettes go well with Twinkies, and are a useful prop to explain the threat of paranormal activity, thanks to a YouTube clip from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters, posted to Tumblr by a mourning Twinkie fan.

 

 

But perhaps most distressing was the news that the death of Twinkies signals the beginning of the zombie apocalypse — a twist on the usual doomsday scenarios when humans turn into zombies and society collapses.

 

 

However, not everyone is saddened by today's loss.

 

When Facebook user Jody Myerson-Amos posted on Facebook that Hostess was going under, Susan Murray Masciopinto chimed in with harsh words for Twinkies. "I am all for a snack cake," she wrote. "But let's make them less cancerous and gross."

 

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This story was originally written for TechNewsDaily and is republished with permission here. Copyright 2012 TechNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company.