Check out the week’s top social media trends, talking points, viral videos and much more in this social media round-up.
Viral Videos
This new advert targeted at Indian flyers by British Airways has massively taken off online in India.
The 6 minute long commercial tells the story of a flight attendant making her first trip to India and falling in love with the country after an elderly woman befriends her on the flight and invites her home.
Inspired by a true story, the ad has been viewed nearly a million times on the airline’s YouTube channel. The top hit commercial has been made by Indian filmmaker, Neeraj Ghaywan, whose most recent work Masaan received critical acclaim.
Delhi Police became a subject of criticism online after a video showing cops brutally lathi-charging students protesting against the alleged suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, surfaced online
The video, shared by protesting students on popular video sharing platform, Youtube, shows police officers cane-charging the protesting students. In the 1-minute clip, apart from the police, some men in plain clothes can also be seen beating them.
The video has also sparked fresh controversy between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Police with the former reiterating its long-standing issue over the control of police in the capital.
Twitter Trends
Delhi Police
Delhi Police became a talking point on Twitter after hundreds of users and news outlets started sharing the video of shocking police brutality against students protesting the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, in the capital. Many users lashed out at the Delhi Police for what they called was ‘unprovoked action’ and condemned the police high-handedness on female students.
#AnupamKher
Bollywood actor, Anupam Kher, shot to media limelight all through the day on Tuesday, after the actor claimed that he was denied visa by Pakistan for attending a literature festival in Karachi. In a series of tweets, the actor accused Pakistan High Commission in Delhi of red flagging his name, a claim denied by Pakistan High Commissioner, Abdul Basit.
In his tweets, the actor also attributed the ‘rejection’ of visa to his remarks on intolerance and plight of Kashmiri pandits. To which the Pakistan High Commission said that the actor had never applied for a visa. This led to social media reactions, both in support and against Anupam Kher.
#TanzanianGirl
The debate over racism returned online after a 21-year old Tanzanian student was allegedly assaulted by a mob in Bengaluru. The business management student was driving past a neighborhood in the northern part of the city minutes after a drunken Sudanese driver had knocked down an Indian woman and killed her. Angry residents who had assembled at the spot set fire to his car and allegedly beat her up, stripped her, and paraded her naked.
The incident sparked widespread outrage and condemnation on social media with users calling it a racist attack.
#Blackdontcrack
A family photo of a youthful-looking woman and her twin daughters has become an online sensation as people around the world struggle to figure out which one is the mother.
The photo was posted by Kaylan Mahomes, a high school student from Indianapolis, on January 28 and has since garnered more than 50,000 likes on Twitter – plus nearly 29,000 Twitter retweets.
Facebook Buzz
This week, Facebook timelines were full of #FriendsDay videos after the social networking giant started sending each user a personalised video in celebration of its 12th birthday.
The personalised #FriendsDay video picks “special moments” and places them in a montage that can be edited and shared by Facebook users. Many users shared the videos on their timelines, as it took them down the memory lane.
Other topics that featured on Facebook trends include Deepika Padukone, who gave her fans a sneak peek into her next film with Hollywood star Vin Diesel, Anupam Kher’s visa row and reports of FRIENDS star Matt LeBlanc co-hosting a British TV show.
Top 3 Instagram Performers
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