The Weekend Social Trends Report: Dlamini Zuma, #MenIn4Words & more

nkosazana dlamini zuma

We know how much you enjoy living your life beyond the confines of your smartphone screen. But come Monday, you still want to hear about the social media highlights from the weekend, right? Well look no further than South Africa’s Weekend Social Trends Report, compiled for you by us, and fuelled by the country’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram community.

Edition #2, 8-9 July 2017.

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Dlamini Zuma punts presidential prospects?

It’s not often we see a set of tweets propel an account into Twitter trending status, but Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma did just that Saturday.

Speaking at a Catholic Women’s Union event in KwaZulu-Natal, Dlamini Zuma’s Twitter handle briefly trended around midday Saturday, following over a dozen tweets addressing women’s roles and place in society.

However one tweet in particular stood out to most.

“If we elect a female President we can look to her to empower women and fast track women’s emancipation,” she writes.

The tweet received over 300 replies, and some 70 retweets — more than any of her other posts on the day. A majority of the more popular questioned her motives… and presidential prospects.

Incidentally, we also saw this particular meme appear once again.

Twitter users also put forward their candidates for the first female president of South Africa…

#MenIn4Words: ‘Some need more brains’

Nope, this isn’t quite #MenAreTrash all over again.

The hashtag first appeared in August 2016, but reappeared across the world on Saturday thanks to this post by Roe’s Rage. It also became a trending topic in South Africa for a brief period.

Users posted their feelings towards men using just four words… or in some cases, a few more.

Others aimed to educate.

A few more used GIFs to enhance their posts.

The hashtag’s still being used at the time of writing.

Southern Kings, Wayne Rooney and Bradley Lowery

Sporting events tend to trend regularly in South Africa over the weekend, and this week was no exception.

Six-year-old Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery died this weekend following a battle with cancer. This tweet from Sunderland and the below tweet from footballer Jermaine Defoe were amongst the most shared.

South African rugby also headlined with a win for the Southern Kings and Stormers in their respective matches.

Wayne Rooney’s return to Everton after 13 years with Manchester United also fuelled conversation this weekend.

This tweet from Man United player Ander Herrera also briefly trended in South Africa Sunday afternoon.

‘My brother has just been hijacked’

Late Sunday, Twitter rallied together to find a hijacked man. Sister of the victim and Twitter user Khan Sifile tweeted that her brother had been hijacked around 7.30pm Sunday.

While the initial tweet was sluggish to spread, this particular tweet garnered over 1000 retweets.

Along with the retweets, users also offered advice and their well wishes.

“We are now hoping Tracker, Police, and Grace can deliver,” she wrote on Twitter in the latest update.

Update: around 1am Monday morning, Sifile confirmed that her brother was safe.

Feature image: Foreign and Commonwealth Office via Flickr (CC 2.0 BY, resized)

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