Here’s a recap of the past week’s top social media trends, talking points, viral videos and more.
Viral Videos of the Week
Pakistani singer, Taher Shah, is making waves with his ‘unbelievable’ music – not just in his country, but in the entire Indian subcontinent. After making his fans wait for nearly 2 years, Taher Shah has just released his new music video titled ‘Angel’, and it has all the elements the man is known for.
In less than 24 hours since the music video was released online, it has already clocked over 2 lakh views on YouTube alone. In fact, it could potentially become the top hit of the year so far.
Following the Panama Papers leaks on Monday, people from around the globe were looking for ways to comprehend the basics of the ‘biggest expose of the century’. Several professed to having a hard time understanding, which was when Vox.com’s video proved to be of great help.
The video breaks down complex financial jargon into easily understandable information with the help of a ‘Piggy Bank’ theory. Little surprise then that it has struck a chord with audiences online.
Twitter Trends
#PanamaPapers
On Monday, the world woke up to news about offshore tax evasion by the world’s rich in the tax havens of Panama. Billed as the biggest leak of the century, Panama Papers made global headlines and sparked conversations and protests. Social media, as always, was unforgiving and the digital space was flooded with reactions and cartoons on the leak in no time.
#NITSrinagar
All it took was a cricket match to vitiate atmosphere in the otherwise peaceful campus of the National Institute of Technology in Srinagar. It started with a scuffle between local and non-local students during a the World T20 semi-final match between India and the West Indies on 31 March. The local Kashmiri students reportedly cheered for the Windies, which enraged the non-local students cheering for the Indian team. What started as minor clash between students has now snowballed into a major political row and has once again sparked a media firestorm around the nationalism vs anti-nationalism debate.
Rakhi Sawant
Actress Rakhi Sawant’s statement, that ceiling fans should be banned from all homes to prevent suicides, has shocked and appalled many. On Tuesday the reality TV star, at a press conference she had called outside the Oshiwara Police Station to release “secrets” related to Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put a ban on fans.
It didn’t take long for social media platforms like Twitter to explode, reacting to Sawant’s comments with humour to express their outrage.
#TaherShah
Pakistani singer Taher Shah’s latest music video titled ‘Angel’ has captured the attention of social media users, generating a number of tweets both mocking Taher’s talent, and praising his confidence.
The song has gone viral in less than 24 hours after being uploaded on Yotube and has made #TaherShah a worldwide Twitter trend.
Facebook Buzz
The Panama Leaks found a lot of resonance across social media networks, including Facebook. Timelines were flooded with the details of the files and views on the murky world of offshore tax evasion. Other major news events that shaped the discourse on Facebook were Rakhi Sawant’s appeal for banning ceiling fans, the NIT clash and West Indies’ World T20 win.
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