Viral This Week: R-Day, Arunachal Pradesh, Smart Cities, and More
For your edification, here is everything that has been riding the digital waves this week.
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When you finish scrolling through your Facebook news feed, do you usually have a bunch of notifications on Twitter? And by the time you get done with the little blue bird, does the filter-heavy world of Instagram beckon you?
Here then, just for you, is a handy wrap of all the topics that kept social media platforms buzzing this week.
Viral Videos of the Week
A shocking video has emerged that shows a 55-year-old woman being crushed to death under the wheels of a train, as she tried to de-board the moving train in a hurry. The accident took place at Borivali station in Mumbai on Wednesday, 27 January 2016.
Popular late night television host Conan O’Brien celebrates his move to cable TV in the best way possible – by exploring just how much risqué language he can indulge in! In this video, he meets the man who bleeps him – and hilarity ensues.
Twitter Trends
Monday: #SnowBlizzard2016
A monster blizzard in southern and eastern US, that began on Friday, 23 January, snowballed into a full-blown “Snowmageddon” on Monday. Seven states declared a state of emergency, mass flight cancellations occurred, and Washington shut down US federal government offices.
Tuesday: #RepublicDay
On January 26, 2015, India celebrated its 67th Republic Day to mark the completion of 66 years as a republic. The R-Day parade in New Delhi, hosting French President Francois Hollande as its chief guest, was spectacular as usual, with colourful state tableauxs and a brilliant display of the country’s military might.
Wednesday: #ModiMurdersDemocracy
On late Tuesday night, Arunachal Pradesh came under Central rule with President Pranab Mukherjee giving assent to the Union Cabinet’s recommendation on such a course following political instability in the state. In no time, #ModiMurdersDemocracy started trending on Twitter, with some arguing that the move is an attempt at curtailing the executive functions of a democratically elected State Govt in Delhi.
Thursday: #SmartCities
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday announced the first batch of 20 cities to be developed as smart cities in India. These cities were chosen from 98 cities shortlisted for the ‘Smart Cities Mission’.
Friday: #OnTinderAtTinder
#OnTinderAtTinder, an attempt to pull back the curtain on image-manufacturing in the world of online dating, took Twitter by storm on Friday. The results, in true Twitter fashion, were both hilarious and discomfiting.
Saturday: #5WordIceBreaker
This worldwide trend delivers exactly what it promises – a five-word recipe for disastrous social encounters.
Facebook Buzz
The imposition of President’s Rule following the instability in Arunachal Pradesh is the current talking point on Facebook. The announcement of the list of cities that qualify for the ‘Smart Cities’ mission is also creating waves, with people debating the criteria for selection and speculating over the mission’s efficacy. Other topics that showed up on the users’ news feeds include updates on the MCD crisis, political campaigning heating up in the US following Donald Trump’s polarising remarks on immigrants, major upheavals in the world of business following the fall in prices of crude oil, and a dead whale being found washed ashore on Juhu beach in Mumbai.
Top 3 Performers on Instagram
These are the posts that grabbed the maximum eyeballs on Instagram this past week.
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