Social media wRap: ‘Amalayer,’ Sottocopy and gay marriage

Rappler Social Media Team

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This week in social media: Meltdowns on Twitter and an LRT station, Kerry Kennedy's complaint against Senator Sotto, and the Israel Defense Force's live-tweeting of a military assault

MANILA, Philippines – We’ve got a pretty interesting round-up of hot social media issues this week — from meltdowns on Twitter and an LRT station to Kerry Kennedy’s complaint against Senator Tito Sotto, and the Israel Defense Force’s live-tweeting of a military assault.

So here are the stories that made netizens Happy, Sad, Amused, Angry, Inspired, Afraid and Annoyed this week (November 11 to November 17).

November 10 is ‘Malala Day’
Mood Meter: Inspired

November 10 has been declared by the United Nations as “Malala Day” in honor of 15-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai who championed girl’s rights to education in Pakistan. After word of her attack spread around the world, much attention has been brought to her cause.

On November 9, UN special envoy Gordon Brown presented the Pakistani government a petition with over a million signatures in support of Yousafzai. There were also various online campaigns supporting Yousafzai and a petition urging the Nobel Foundation to award the 15-year-old with the Prize.

Kerry Kennedy speaks up against Sottocopy
Mood Meter: Happy

Screenshot from Kerry Kennedy's Facebook page

Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto said he wouldn’t believe any alleged complaint against him unless it came with an official letterhead.

Well, he probably didn’t need convincing about a 4th complaint sent his office.

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of the late US senator Robert F. Kennedy, called the Senator out on a “clear case of plagiarism.”

In a November 9 statement signed by Kennedy under the letterhead of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, she said she was “particularly offended to see a speech my father gave in support of global human rights distorted by Senator Sotto as an argument against the right to contraception.”

It didn’t take long for the statement to make rounds on social media. Since then, complaints have been filed before the Senate Ethics Committee against Sotto, and Senate President Enrile has urged an investigation into plagiarism at the Sentate. Sotto has also apologized to the Kennedy family, but maintained he did not plagiarize.

Israel, Hamas livetweet Israel-Gaza violence
Mood Meter: Sad


Live-tweeting is a common thing these days, but we’re not so sure you should do it during a military assault.

On November 15, 2012, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) posted live updates during an attack against Hamas, which it called “an Iranian proxy responsible for terror attacks on Israel.” The live updates consisted of information on the successful attacks made and the death toll, posters and infographics.

On the same day, Gaza was pounded by more than 100 air strikes that killed 11 and injured at least 115.

Google: Government surveillance on the rise
Mood Meter: Afraid

 

The Google Transparency Report is out and it’s not looking good. 

According to Google, requests for access to Google data spiked in the first half of the year, with almost a third coming from the US government.

In the Philippines, Google revealed that they received requests from a local mayor to remove blogs criticizing the mayor. Google thumbed down the requests.

Similar sin tax articles: Coincidence?
Mood Meter: Angry

Coincidence or lobbying at work?

Facebook users were enraged by this viral photo of 4 columns from competing newspapers which carried similar content regarding the pending sin tax bill.

The photo shows columns of Alex Magno (Philippine Star), Ducky Paredes (Malaya Business Insight), Jojo Robles (Manila Standard Today), and Mary Ann Reyes (Philippine Star) side-by-side with their similar content.

Netizens in support of the sin tax bill questioned press freedom and accused lobbyists blocking the passage of the measure of invading mainstream media.

Gay men will marry your girlfriends if…
Mood Meter: Amused

Those against gay marriage better listen up: gay men have proposed to marry your girlfriends if you don’t let them marry each other.

In the video, “We’d be the best husbands ever,” these men claim that they not only dress better than their would-be wives, they can even create for them a quiche with a side of hummus. From scratch.

We won’t spoil the rest of the video for you so hit play instead.

Runner-up: Dumb ways to die

This video from the Melbourne Metro wins the award for best Public Service Announcement ever. It’s cute, catchy, and the lyrics are hilarious. Examples of dumb ways to die range from taking your helmet off in outerspace to selling both your kidneys on the Internet. Personal favorite? “I wonder what’s this red button do.”

Amalayer?: LRT meltdown goes viral
Mood Meter: Annoyed

This needs no introduction. This viral video of a student publicly berating a security guard at an LRT station is one trending topic we can’t wait to end.

The one-minute video has elicited various reactions online — from amusement to disbelief and anger. For us, the video is just too difficult to listen to without cringing, and we’re begging everyone to please get over it already.

This should also serve as a warning: you might want to think twice before you make a scene. You don’t want to go viral like this. Trust us.

Sharon Cuneta, The Professional Heckler and a fake interview
Mood Meter: Don’t Care

Screenshot from Sharon Cuneta's Twitter account


After receiving word from a follower that according to an interview, Kris Aquino isn’t following her on Twitter because the latter didn’t want to get stressed, Sharon replied with a biting “yes. Yaan na natin. Di ko rin naman sya fina-follow ever. Sasakit ang ulo ko.” (Yes. Let’s leave it alone. I don’t follow her as well. It’ll give me a headache.)

Fans and followers however were quick to point out that the “interview” wasn’t real and that it came from the humor blog of The Professional Heckler. Lesson learned: read before you tweet.

– Rappler.com

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