IN THE BEGINNING

In 2014, social media was a wasteland. Hundreds of millions of members were stuck scrolling through meaningless and plastic feeds. Somewhere where the networks should have had a heart, billionaire philanthropist humanoid Mark Zuckerberg had left a black hole of emotion. Some stood by and watched it happen. But some wanted more. The date: November 11, 2014. The location: Facebook. Enter: Garth Brooks.

LET THERE BE GARTH

The conversation had begun. No more rage comics and nyan cats. It was game day, and Garth was in it to win it from kickoff. He was going to post cool stuff. Slick stuff. But all the while, he was going to stay the same old Garth Brooks. RAW. Nothing says keeping it raw like selling 160 million records. Garth Brooks transcends raw. Here’s Garth letting us folks know how to keep it real by telling us to go show some love for his wife’s birthday, all the while holding her accounts hostage. She’s not Mrs. Brooks, he’s Mr. Yeargood.

THE DARK TRUTH

Behind the raw, cool, and slick, is there an underlying message that the G man is desperately trying to send out? Garth has had a troubled past with mental health. His well-documented emotional instability has been the talking point of many a tabloid article. It would be impossible to forget about the Chris Gaines fiasco, in which Garth tried to get away from his awesome level of fame and get back to basics by putting on an emo wig and creating a new persona with backstory included while pretending nobody will notice that it’s just Garth Brooks with bangs. Chris Gaines was supposed to be left in the past. He’s been wiped off the internet by the G team. You only have to look into his eyes to see what Garth really feels deep down inside that relatable working man shell. The proof is in the pudding.

SKELETONS IN THE G MAN’S CLOSET?

In the final frames of Garth’s reveal of what will be the BIGGEST STADIUM TOUR OF ALL TIME, he lets out a smile that shows he’s not all there. What is Garth hiding from us? Why does he want us to get physical like that? Is Chris Gaines back from the 90s to warn us something isn’t okay in the Brooks camp? That serial killer smile tells far more about his inner-self than we ever needed to know. When a non-psychopath smiles, the eyes will squint in a manner that matches the smile. In this post, Garth has the eyes of a seal. We’re dealing with a truly broken man. A man who no longer remembers what being normal is like. Fame has destroyed the insides of one of America’s most beloved performers. What is left is something truly shocking. This is a man devoid of all human emotion and ability to connect on a genuine level. Will superstardom find its next victim in Garth? Only time and the greatest Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds of all time will tell. I leave you with the manic state that Garth Brooks now resides in.

#askgarth #mryearwood #garth #happy #youreIT

Credits & Inspiration:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-garth-brooks-hosts-snl-performs-as-chris-gaines-241259/

https://www.instagram.com/garthbrooks/

 

 

 

 

 

Whether it is a long night of binge watching on Netflix, or a perfectly tailored Spotify playlist for your daily commute, online media consumption has seamlessly solidified its role as an indispensable aspect of our everyday lives, leaving traditional media services in the rear-view mirror for millions of consumers globally.

Here are 5 of the most influential ways online media consumption shook up the entertainment industry.

1) Whatever. Whenever. Wherever.

Long gone are the days of choppy playback from a scratched DVD, or the heart-wrenching experience of missing the airing of an new episode of your favorite show.  The convenience of having reliable, on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of hours of HD content, on any device, at any time, is a gift in its own right, and is the main reason why online streaming services, have never been more popular, showing continuous growth year-by-year.

(Shh…don’t ask any questions, it’s definitely a real tweet)

2) Independent Entertainers

What do YouTube vloggers,  Twitch streamers, and up-and-coming SoundCloud artists have in common? Other than the ubiquitous, inescapable #giveaway, not much. However, they are all united under the fact that the growth of internet media consumption facilitated their success, providing them with a platform to share their talents, which may have gone unnoticed otherwise. Free from the shackles of major production companies, anyone with the right combination of talent and luck can make it to all the way to the top.

 

3)Piracy!

With over 70% of consumers having no issue with piracy, it would be fair to assume that the corporations constantly lobbying for stricter copyright infringement laws and regulations may very well be fighting a losing battle. The ease of which media can be illegally downloaded often undermines the harmful effects of piracy, with millions of dollars in losses being reported every year. Perhaps, not every illegal download is a lost sale. It could even be argued that legal sales are boosted by illegal downloads because of the marketing benefits of reaching an even bigger consumer group, generating more future revenue. By adapting their business-models to the reality that internet piracy is  not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon, corporations can still turn the tides in their favor.

 

4) Corporate Survival of the Fittest

The way we watch TV, movies and listen to music has gone relatively unchanged for decades, until the arrival of online media. Its rapid growth has broadcasters in a race against time to modernize, or get left behind. Ad-free and at a fraction of the cost, online streaming services are gradually poaching even the more traditional kind of consumer, which is evident by the constant decline in cable and TV subscribers. Broadcasting giants are starting to bridge the gap by quickly expanding into the realm of internet media.

 

5) Technological Arms Race

It’s not easy being the top dog, especially when your competitors are watching your every move, waiting for the opportune moment to strike and take the reins. The only way to prevent such a fate (or delay its arrival), is to keep growing and developing. Whether it is a smoother, more user-friendly interface, or new, game-changing ways to share data, or innovative habit predicting AI, the effects of an unrelenting desire to evolve and improve could propel the entertainment industry, and computer technology as a whole, years ahead into the future.

∼Omar Alhalabi

 

---

https://www.statista.com/chart/10311/netflix-subscriptions-usa-international/

https://sites.udel.edu/cisc356/2015/04/12/piracy-helping-or-harming-the-world/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/digital-piracy-not-harming-entertainment-industries-study-1.1894729

https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/jun/10/internet-changing-definition-television

by Patrick Dunlop

From suburban Dads at a barbecue to a bunch of ducks in a pond, everyone needs some absurdly peaceful memes to make you smile between mental breakdowns.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good edgy shitpost as much as the next guy. Throw a random vulgar caption onto a pixelated, highly edited and absolutely disgusting picture of Jimmy Neutron’s dad and I’m giggling like a schoolgirl. But after hours of destroying both my headphones and eardrums with bass boosted recorder versions of “My Heart Will Go On”  (yes, it’s a real thing), a break is needed.

So here’s 3 of the most beautifully simple, family friendly and all around wholesome resources for the average Joe looking for a heckin‘ good time on the web.

#1: Chill Situations on twitter (@chillsitch)

Tucked away somewhere between the political tire fires and “lol omg so random 😉 XD” celebrity sightings that Twitter has produced in 2018, sits a true relic of the past. Inactive now for a little over a year, @chillsitch was once a beacon a hope for the tweeting community. Yet even in its death, this account still has more than enough calming content to keep scrolling in awe for hours.

And yes, it is exactly what the name suggests.

Just. Chill. Sitchs. No bells and whistles. No sponsored tweets about how “Chill” Cap’ N Crunch is. Not a natural disaster in sight. Just puka shells, beach naps and good vibes. The page is at its core just a collection of very plausible relaxing scenarios with maybe a cute little misdirect or punchline thrown in. That’s it.

The best way I can put it is that @chillsitch is the internet equivalent of finding that one onion ring at the bottom of your bag of fries and we should protect it at all costs.

#2: Middle Class Fancy (@middleclassfancy)

Objectively, the stock photo meme trend is nothing new or revolutionary, especially on Instagram. Slap a caption on one of the thousands of creepy-ish photos that advertisers or services like Shutterstock and Getty images pump out 24/7 and call it a day. But theres something so pure and undeniably perfect about combining these images with arguably the most wholesome and cringe inducing form of comedy, the dad joke.

Everything from lawn maintenance tips, unpopular opinions on pop singers who wear ripped jeans and playful jokes about “the old ball and chain” are available to fill for your suburban humour needs.

Other than a few important ground rules that must never be broken, (i.e call beer “crispy boys”, NEVER let it be from craft brewery, always choose Chilli’s over Applebees etc.) it is a safe ground for all those looking for a slice of nostalgia or just a firm handshake.

#3: Moms on Facebook (no specific link…trust me, they’ll find you)

Now this last one isn’t so much of a tangible outlet, like a twitter or Instagram page, but more of a state of mind. A seemingly distant and alternate universe where the laws of internet etiquette, punctuation and humour do not exist. I am talking of course, about the Facebook Mom affect.

I could use this opportunity to throw a pity party for how parents joining the site “ruined” the platform and made it “lame” for us young kids or I could mockingly recreate a bunch of ignorantly hilarious messages that are unavoidable overtime a radio station shares an outdated meme but id rather just show you these.

 

These are the three most recent posts on my 82 year old grandmother’s wall (excluding the videos of little kids Irish dancing and lengthy happy birthday messages), and my two aunts very pertinent comments.

If this doesn’t immediately out a smile on your face while also causing you to very audibly release a sigh of discomfort, than I have nothing more to say.

Hopefully these resources will help you appreciate a few of the simple pleasures in life and realize that amongst the endless stream of sh*ts and f*cks on the internet, there might just be a place for a well placed wholesome gif every once in a while.

 

Sources and Inspiration:

https://tenor.com/view/lovely-iminlove-love-nice-cute-gif-8795789

https://www.instagram.com/middleclassfancy/

https://twitter.com/chillsitch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E599273926796156931&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2F2018%2Fchillsitch-twitter-taylor-moore

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stock-photography

https://tenor.com/view/the-office-chillax-chill-relax-steve-carell-gif-5800804

https://jezebel.com/chill-situations-is-the-chill-ass-twitter-account-the-w-1613962955

https://tenor.com/view/mean-girls-amy-poehler-im-acool-mom-regular-mom-cool-gif-3963102

https://www.elle.com/culture/news/a45205/moms-facebook-posts/

https://tenor.com/view/ohwell-forgetting-sarah-marshall-shrug-what-idk-gif-5281408

(hopefully I don’t have to site my grandmothers Facebook page but if I do let me know)

By: Sabrina Segal

Kanye West, rapper, clothing designer and, most notably, arch nemesis of Taylor Swift, is well-known for his off-the-wall comments, stunts and rants. West uses Twitter to document his thoughts throughout his “creative process.” Most people have learned to laugh at his rhetoric and move on, but recently Kanye has gotten into hot water over his tweets in support of President Trump and about his views on slavery.

West’s tweets, as the New Yorker puts it, are what you might overhear from a group of kids who have just devoured a sizeable tray of edibles. In other words, his erratic behavior and #nofilter comments shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  Instead, it has become a popular internet trend to try to interpret West’s tweets.

 

Here are 5 different ways Kanye tweets can be interpreted to relate to Dawson students:

1. The Early Morning Wake Up

Kanye likes to think of himself as a life coach, expressing his inspiring thoughts to his followers. To the Dawson student, this phrase takes on a whole other meaning.

It’s 7 am. The loud and unpleasant sound of the iPhone alarm pierces our ears. We know that if we delay getting up any longer we’ll surely be late, but something inside of us compels us to stay put. The fact of the matter is, when there is even the slightest bit of doubt, every Dawson student will opt to stay in bed and miss their class.

2. Caffeine Overload

Kanye likely tweeted this to express his excitement about a new song, or maybe his plans to travel to space? Who knows. To the Dawson student, this tweet defines our unhealthy dependency on caffeine.

Every Dawson student knows that the key to getting through the day is caffeine. Whether it’s a Tim Hortons Ice Cap, a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, or for the instant boost, a tall black coffee, caffeine is vital to the Dawson student.

Once we finally get our cup of joe, we feel “super chaaaaaaaarged” and ready to face the day.

3. Yesterday is History

Here Kanye goes again, dropping some deep thoughts and #knowledge on your Twitter timelines. To Dawson students, this makes us think about our dreadful history courses.   Spending hours listening to professors go on and on about the details of some obscure battle that happened during the 18th century, can drive a student mad. In these dark times, we wonder why we’re so focused on the nitty-gritty details of the past.

4. Lunchtime! 

Kanye loves McDonalds, and incidentally, so do we!

Being situated so close to Alexis Nihon gives us an overwhelming amount of options for any food craving. Yet, somehow we end up at McDonalds every afternoon. It’s unclear if it’s their unbeatably low price point for their food, or the pure nostalgia, but students find themselves, day after day, trekking to McDonalds during their lunch break.

So, what are you getting tomorrow: McNuggets or a Big Mac?

5. Naptime

West is known for his ability to nap anywhere at any time. Dawson students, like Kanye, appreciate the art of napping.

A beginner might nap on the metro ride home, or immediately after stepping foot into their house. The more experienced nappers will be able to sleep in any part of Dawson. This includes, but is not limited to, the classroom, the library and the hallways of the 8th floor. Dawson students “be taking naps” all the time, everywhere.

TL;DR: don’t take Kanye West tweets too seriously. Have fun with them and the Internet will be a more peaceful place.

 

Sources

https://www.thisisinsider.com/taylor-swift-kanye-west-feud-history-2017-9

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/25/17280922/kanye-west-donald-trump-tweets-kim-kardashian

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/10/07/kanye-west-quits-twitter-again-after-trump-rant-slavery-remarks/1559093002/

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-should-we-think-about-kanye-wests-tweets

https://me.me/i/jimmy-jamiedellapa-when-youre-wasted-and-run-away-from-your-21693418

https://globalnews.ca/video/4509488/chris-evans-slams-kanye-west-in-viral-tweet

http://time.com/4352851/kanye-west-sleeping-in-public/

 

 

Here’s a #TBT for you all (unless you’re like 10)… Remember the days of rushing home from school just in time to catch an episode of your fav TV show. Fighting with your brother over the remote because he wants to watch the discovery channel but you want to watch iCarly. Recording shows to watch later on your PVR when you finish your homework. 

Sadly, cable is a thing of the past…

We’ve all said goodbye to Television and hello to YOUTUBE!!!!

Youtube’s been around for a loooooooong time, since 2005 to be exact. If you’re a 90’s child, you remember using Youtube occasionally to watch music video parodies or Rebecca Black’s “Friday” LOL.

In the past few years, Youtube has taken a MAJOR turn in the entertainment industry. 2016-now has been the ERA of Youtube. Yes, I know I know…youtubers have been around for like a decade. But now more than ever before, Youtube channels are gaining a lot of attention. Kids in 2018 aren’t growing up watching Disney Channel & Nickelodeon, they’re watching Youtube.

You could almost say Youtube is the new television. Parents are turning their cable off. Kids are barely even watching Netflix anymore. If you think about it, every Youtube channel is like a TV show. They even ressemble television format that we’re already familiar with! Here are two prime examples…

 

1. David Dobrik’s vlog is the new Friends/comedy sitcom

 If you’re not familiar with David Dobrik, here is some backstory. Starting off as a viner, Dobrik created a youtube channel three years ago with a small following. His channel started to blow up with the help of his relationship with youtuber Liza Koshy. He now has 9.6 million subscribers, taking the Youtube world by storm with his entirely new concept of “vlogging”. His videos all essentially consist of the same formula… a 4 minute & 20 second fast-paced video filled with the funniest shit you’ll ever see in your life. Despite being somewhat scripted, the jokes and storylines in his vlogs are original and absolutely brilliant.

                

Aside from peeing your pants laughing at Dobrik’s hilariously entertaining content, you also get invested in his iconic friend group known as “The Vlog Squad”. Similarly to the cast of Friends, every member of the squad plays into a certain character type. This persona is based off their personality, but with slight exaggerations due to the scripting aspect of the vlog. Together, they all have that amazing “tv sitcom” chemistry, like the cast of Friends. There’s dating, break-ups, drama, and genuine friendships. They have even recently won a Streamy for “Best Youtube Ensemble”.

 

2) Shane Dawson’s videos are the new TV documentaries 

You must be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Shane Dawson. He’s been in the Youtube game for about a decade. Besides publishing books, creating films and receiving numerous awards, Dawson has recently transformed his channel into something that has never been done before.

In the Youtube space, there’s many different types of channels. You’ve got the vloggers, “comedians”, beauty gurus, story-time channels, lifestyle channels..etc. Instead of putting himself in one of these categories, Shane decided to do something completely unheard of. Starting about 6 months ago, he created several mini documentary series that would go deep into the life of another creator/youtuber. Each series consists of several videos ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, revealing the reality behind a youtube persona that differs from what we all see on screen.

Recently, Shane has encountered his most controversial and heavily reported docu-series…The Mind of Jake Paul. Jake Paul is arguably one of the most hated public figures in the world. In the past year, him and his brother Logan have been involved in more scandals than you can count with one hand. Despite the overwhelming amount of hate, with the argument that the public does not want to sympathize with Jake, Shane decided to go through with the series.

No one has any idea how, but after his 8-part series dissecting the life & psychology of Jake Paul, Shane won over the public and completely changed everyone’s perspective. Despite the occasional backlash throughout the series, it was an overall success, accumulating a total of over 140 million views. A truly successful documentary can take someone you absolutely despise and completely humanize them. This isn’t just some stupid Youtube video…This is some television-level shit.

 

Sources:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/6-reasons-watching-david-dobriks-vlogs

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomward/2017/07/27/all-aboard-the-shane-train-an-interview-with-shane-dawson/#5cacbd73113f

 

 

 

I first downloaded Instagram when I was 14 years old, and originally it was something I had a lot of fun with. My Instagram at that time mostly consisted of cute photos of my dog or super tasty homemade meals, and the idea of posting the perfect selfie or having the “ideal” feed wasn’t something that particularly concerned me. However, as I get older, Instagram, as well as just about every other aspect of my life, has gotten much more stressful and complicated.

I was talking to one of my friends about it the other day and she brought up how good she felt when she took a break from social media. She told me, similarly to what most people who delete their social media will tell you, that it was a mindfully cleansing experience and that she had an exponentially larger amount of time on her hands that she could put into her other, more fulfilling, hobbies.

Although her comment may have come off somewhat pretentious, I decided to test it out myself, to find out once and for all if deleting Instagram really would make me a happier and more fulfilled person or if it was just an excuse to feel morally superior to the rest. It has been a month and a half since I deleted my Instagram and I have to admit that my confidence (especially body related) has improved significantly and my ability to concentrate on school work or any other hobby is better than it has been in a long time. However, in this day and age being off Instagram does make you feel significantly disconnected from the people around you.  Therefore, I unfortunately don’t think my Instagram boycott will be long term. Nevertheless, during my time off of Instagram I have come to the following conclusion: maybe its less about Instagram and more about me. Whether it’s checking to see whether or not your ex is dating that person they told you “not to worry about” or stalking your old best friend and her new squads seemingly crazy Friday night out,

there’s a lot of unhealthy temptation on the internet. Unfortunately, Instagram is not going to withhold any of it from you. It’s up to you to have some self restraint and to acknowledge what is healthy for you to look at and what isn’t. I realize there’s something fascinating about watching Alexis Ren and her boyfriend who looks like a Greek God jet skiing in the Bahamas but if they are simultaneously making you question your life or your physical appearance than maybe its time to unfollow.

At the end of the day we live in the digital age where being disconnected from social media sometimes feels like being disconnected from an entirely different world and most of us cannot remove social media from our lives completely nor consistently. So if you’re anything like me, and deleting social media doesn’t feel like something you would do permanently, here are 3 Instagram accounts that are actually worth your follow!

1. The first is an account run by Taylor Giavasis called The Naked Diaries. On this account Taylor shares artistic photos of women’s bodies which the women themselves have sent into her. The women who send in the photos give Taylor their full permission to post them and also typically send her a short text describing their biggest insecurity surrounding their bodies and this is used to caption the photo. 
2. The second is an account run by a young woman from the United Kingdom named Hannah Daisy. On her account Hannah posts her own illustrations which remind people suffering from mental illness to do the little things like shower or drink enough water. If you are someone who struggles with mental illness her account is super empathetic and comforting.

1. And finally, the third account I would highly recommend you take a look at is called The Skin Deep. The skin deep is a youtube account which is also highly popular on Instagram which showcases two or more people having a raw and intimate face to face conversation. The relationships between the participants range from romantic love to platonic love all the way to people meeting for the first time. This account showcases the power found in simply witnessing someone else’s conversation.

 

Bibliography

1. https://thoughtcatalog.com/marisa-donnelly/2016/04/this-naked-diaries-instagram-is-the-most-beautiful-body-positive-account-on-the-internet/
2. https://www.health.com/depression/best-mental-health-instagram-accounts
3. http://www.theskindeep.com

Josephine Ragsdale

 

With the prevalence of social media in our society, many people are falling victim of the facade shown throughout many Instagram accounts. Millions of pictures are being altered with lighting, angles, and photoshop and then being posted on social media, causing people to view life through an unrealistic lens. If it isn’t Kim Kardashian showing off her unrealistic body, highly edited body, its Jay Alvarez posting a million pictures of himself jumping into extremely blue pools of tropical water. It is important to recognize that most of the pictures posted on Instagram, especially on influential media accounts, do NOT depict reality. They are often extremely edited. Something as simple as a picture is brainwashing people into viewing life in an extremely unrealistic way, which in turn puts pressure on users to live up to these ways of living. Instagram has grown into an app that allows anybody to promote themselves through the publication of various pictures. But this is what people need to remember: it is designed to PROMOTE. In other words, people are not going to document the crappy aspects of their lives, because nobody is attracted to that. I myself am an Instagram user, and I know that my pictures do not capture an authentic version of who I am. I would NEVER post a picture of myself with no makeup and my glasses, or a picture of myself in a crappy outfit. I almost never smile in my pictures and instead, I strike a serious diva pose. In my selfies, I often edit my skin to make it look like a baby’s butt. However in real life, I am an extremely bubbly and smiley person, who often wears no makeup and glasses with “crappy” outfits to school, and I struggle with acne. These are all factors that I would never show online. To break the facade that most people construct with their Instagram, I carefully chose three accounts that are selling a fake idea of reality.

1. Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian, alongside her family, is notorious for highly editing her Instagram pictures.  Kim and her family have millions and millions of followers who are falling into their facade. Here are a couple examples of highly edited pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On top of having the money to hire professional makeup artists, hairstylists and clothing stylists, she posts edited pictures making people believe she actually looked like that. But how does a normal person look like that? It’s almost impossible unless you are a multi-millionaire like Kim Kardashian.

But hey, even with all the money she has to make herself look like a goddess, she still is insecure about the way she looks in pictures.   

People are being brainwashed into thinking that the ideals of beauty are what is to be expected from women. That is crazy.

2. Jay Alvarez

Jay Alvarez, a young model and Instagram influencer, makes travelling look fun, easy and light-hearted. However, most of his pictures are highly edited. On top of that, he makes travelling look like an accessible and easy thing to do. Travelling like he does, requires a sh*t tone of money and time. Not only that, but there are a lot of scary aspects of travelling that Jay does not show in his pictures such as homesickness, cultural shock, dangerous situations and much more. Here are a couple pictures of his unrealistic pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

This is what real beaches look like. Not that they aren’t beautiful in their own authentic and unedited way.  

   3. Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid is one of the two Hadid sisters. She has become a famous model, mainly due to her mother, who was also a famous model. Let’s face it, she’s beautiful. But she has been caught editing a lot of her Instagram pics: 

 

 

#what #lowkeyrelatable #catfish #fake #lol #lies

Olivia Matz

Sources:

https://www.instagram.com/celebface/?hl=en%20celebface

Did Bella Hadid Photoshop Her Latest Bikini Selfie?

https://www.instagram.com/jayalvarrez/?hl=en%20celebface

https://www.instagram.com/kimkardashian/?hl=en%20celebface

By Laetitia Tremblay

Ever read a tweet that was so outrageous you just died of laughter? It seems that lately, that’s all Twitter is about: the Gina Linetti’s of the world joining together to make fun of people who seem to think Twitter’s their personal diary. Newsflash!! You’re not supposed to tweet about your plans to destroy all races except the whites, Chad.

Need examples? Look no further, because here comes the epitome of the downfall of the human race. That’s right… *drum roll*… the top 5 worst Twitter accounts of 2018!

5. @FacesPics aka Faces in Things

Let’s start easy.

Imagine waking up one day and thinking: “Hey! I’m going to make a Twitter account dedicated to posting things that look like faces because that’s hilarious”. Yeeeeah, nope. Like, really? Is this what 2018 comedy has come down to? Apparently 643K people seem quite fond of the idea and we just can’t see it.

4. @big_ben_clock

This account is basically entirely dedicated to tweeting “bong” at exactly every hour of everyday, to imitate the Big Ben. No further explanation needed.

3. @TheMime

Ever heard of The Mime on Twitter? Well, heard of is actually pretty inaccurate considering he doesn’t really talk all that much. But hey, who needs to talk when you can have 22.4K followers for tweeting “… ” 397 times.

2. @realDonaldTrump

Are you even shocked though? You would have had to know that Mr. President and his infamous tweets were going to end up here no matter what. It’s no secret that Trump has no filter whatsoever on his tweets, and even if they show his childishness, which will probably lead the US to crumble and die, they’ll get a good laugh out of you. Like the fact that he has a weird obsession of proving that global warming isn’t real through a commentary on the weather.

Even though this tweet is three years old, Donald Trump still seems to be positive that global warming does not exist because it’s still cold outside sometimes (mind = blown).

1. @kaitmarieox aka Kaitlyn Bennett “Kent State Gun Girl”

And for “la crème de la crème” as we say in French, we present to you pro-gun/republican/Trump supporter/racist/anti-feminism Kaitlyn Bennett, the girl everyone has been tweeting about. What sparked her instant fame, you ask? Well, the simple fact that she posted this tweet about her promoting pro-gun laws using a school shooting as her reasoning.

Yes, you read that right, a school shooting that happened because the shooter had… wait for it… a gun!

Oh, and we’re not done yet. Take a look at what PETA (@peta) tweeted in October about cows’ milk. Of course, Kaitlyn had to have a say about this, as she does for everything.

 

Makes sense right? I mean, we can always count on Gun Girl to make anything good turn bad. Thank you for spilling the tea Kaitlyn: your Twitter account is trash and so are you!

 

 

 

By: Emily Donoghue

It took Snapchat 5 years to get to where it is today, and it took Kylie Jenner 0.0005 seconds to end the brand with one tweet.  Now we can’t only blame the Queen of Snapchat for its downfall, but it definitely didn’t help our favorite app. 

 

Annoying Redesigns

A total of 1.2m Snapchat users signed a petition demanding the company undo its most recent user interface redesign.   Personal incoming Snaps and Stories are now moved to the same page. It’s harder to find friends and rewatch Stories.  If you’re one of the rare people that swipes left a couple of times, instead of finding cool Stories from your friends, it’s riddled with boring sponsored content and popular celebrity Stories that no one really gives a damn about. Well, maybe we care about Kylie Jenner, but she doesn’t even care about Snapchat anymore so why should we?

 

Because Kylie Jenner said so

Kylie Jenner’s story is reportedly the most-viewed story on the platform, which rightfully earned her the title of ‘Queen of Snapchat’.  Unfortunately, that seemingly backfired for the company when Kylie sent out a hard hitting tweet on Wednesday, February 21st, 2018.  By Thursday, Snapchat stocks dropped 6%, which is an estimated 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion dollars.  Now we can’t necessarily blame Kylie, and she did send out a second tweet, but the damage was already done.  We like our tea served hot! #SnapchatIsOverParty #SnapchatIsCancelled

 

Instagram Stories

When Instagram released its new feature, Instagram Stories, in August of 2016, Snapchat should have been quaking. It attracted hundreds of millions of users who were now able to have Snapchat features all condensed in the same app.  Now your lazy thumb doesn’t even have to change apps! Despite the lack of Instagram filters at the beginning, Instagram has fixed that problem so now there are plenty of fun filters to fit all your selfie needs.  Instagram may have 99 problems but filters ain’t one of them!

 

Instagram Live

If Snapchat wasn’t worried about their popularity when Instagram released their new feature “Instagram Stories’’ they should have been shook when Instagram announced their latest feature, Instagram Live.  Instagram Live was released in November of the same year as Instagram Stories. It allowed users to stream live videos from their favorite people. Now- you can watch a party that you weren’t invited to live, without having to wait! Talk about FOMO, am I right?

 

What are We Talking About Again?

Has anyone ever had a successful long conversation over Snapchat?  It’s impossible to remember what your friend is saying when sending pictures back and forth with hours passing in between.  Granted, Snapchat tried to fix this problem with their Chat feature that allows users to send texts without sending a picture, but that is if you remember to save the texts.  If you don’t click save and close the app, you’ve just lost all hope of showing your bestie what your crush sent you the night before.

Now, I’m not trying to intentionally discredit Snapchat, but like all good things, it has come to an end.  It has served its purpose.  The basis of its creation was genius, but it’s clearly no match when it comes to other social media platforms, especially when they start adding similar features to their apps.  Sorry Snapchat, we’ve had a good run and you will be missed.

 

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/23/snapchat-redesign-scandal-kylie-jenner-what-went-wrong

https://blog.bufferapp.com/instagram-live-video

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/why-the-snapchat-redesign-is-so-bad.html

 

Instagram is an app that changed a lot through time. It started out as a way to share pictures with friends and family, now it evolved into a money hungry corporation that thrives off of its creators. It started with only a picture and now users can post multiple pictures in one post, post “stories’, and live streams. There are many types of Instagram users, here are five of them and how they use the app to their benefit:

 

BUSINESSES/BRANDS

Businesses are able to pay for advertisements on the app that lead daily users to the products displayed on their page or their website which they can link on their page. They use #relatable content to lure potential buyers, but it is not always effective. Even then, it gives publicity. As Oscar Wilde once said: “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about” #facts, #bless.

INFLUENCERS

Influencers are people who became famous because of the internet. Some are popular for being good-looking, others for being funny but they all earn money from the social media platform for ads, sponsored posts, likes and comments. Once the popularity begins the influencers tend to #flex on their followers with their brand-new Porsche, Gucci slides and trips to Tahiti.  They work hand in hand with brands and businesses to create content.

CELEBRITIES

Celebrities are people who have talent outside of Instagram and use the app to update the stans. The celebrities monopolize the spot of biggest accounts on Instagram. Their stories flaunt their bougee lifestyles and display their brand deals. Those guys are driving the Instagram wagon and influence the outside world using the different aspects of their lives to make money or promote their projects.

 

ENTERTAINMENT(meme pages)

Entertainment on Instagram is mostly made up of meme pages. Many types of them exist on the app, but no matter the type they mean to entertain the regular people of the app and the people who use the app not only to post pictures. #True. Some people who are followers of of these accounts go to Instagram to stalk their exes and look at memes about their exes. #YIKES! These pages post the most out of all the other types of accounts, they have approximately five posts per day to secure the most likes possible and the most content. Some even go as far as to post TWENTY times a day while adding stories and sometimes live streaming… What do these people even do with their lives??? To get more followers and keep their account relevant they might associate with brands or other meme pages to assure a revenue for themselves.

REGULAR PEOPLE

The regular people of Instagram use it to post on their story about their day to day life and post pictures to their page to flex on other regular people and show the good aspects of their lives. Most Cégep students around the province who are not considered to be “influencers” use their Instagram to see what is up around the world, without the regular people accounts, the other categories of Instagram users cannot thrive and gain profit. When they are not busy studying – or binging Netflix – they scroll through Instagram to gossip about their classmates and the celebrities they find attractive.

sources: https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/examples-of-businesses-using-instagram

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-celebrities-make-on-instagram-2018-7

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/there-is-no-such-thing-as-bad-publicity.html