Bless Google's little heart. It tries so hard to not be evil, but still develops AI that pretends it knows what it's doing (and gathers a slew of selfies in the process for its facial recognition savvy). What am I talking about? Google Arts & Culture, of course. The app is only available in parts of the United States for now, but has nonetheless seen something of a viral boom on Twitter this past weekend. Thanks everyone for sharing your awesome #GoogleArts #selfie matches!🤳 This mobile experiment (accessible at https://t.co/DUuzxlMKCd) is currently available in parts of the US. Stay tuned as...
The internet is an odd and confusing place, and the gaming world's latest meme is solid proof of this. If you haven't yet heard of VRChat, Sonic The Hedgehog's marsupial friend Knuckles, and his insulting Ugandan-accented equivalent, take a seat, because there's a lot to explain. All in all, throw these into a casserole dish, simmer for a few months on the internet, season liberally with shares, likes and overuse, and you have yourself the Ugandan Knuckles meme. VRChat Let's begin with what has become the meme's primary vehicle thus far -- VRChat. It's a free-to-play game that lets users interact in a virtual...
In the midst of student protests, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has confirmed that exams will go ahead as scheduled. But perhaps not in the venues previously decided. "The university management has had to take the extraordinary step of arranging an examination venue on the upper campus rugby field," the institution's registrar wrote in a statement. "It is a decision that has not been taken lightly. It was an outcome of an assessment of what arrangements would offer the best chance of conducting and successfully concluding the examination programme in the current circumstances of threats of disruption." The venue, pictured in...
The remnants of Hurricane Ophelia is currently battering the south-western coastline of Ireland, but much of the country doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously. #Ophelia is currently trending worldwide on Twitter at present, and obviously in Ireland. But while that hashtag does include updates on the storm, alerts and citizen reports, it also includes a healthy dosage of memes. The snarky comments emanating from the emerald isle is as humourous as it is worrying, considering that Ex-Ophelia (as the UK Met Office is calling her) is still packing wind gusts in excess of 170km/h. This must be a the strongest...
Amid the talk of possible nuclear war, state capture and under-performing local sports teams, we understand that you -- the internet -- need a break from all that is glum in the world. @MonkeyHaircut has seemingly become that break for over 12 000 people. The Twitter account lists examples and derivatives of the world's latest cute meme, featuring a macaque getting a haircut and seemingly loving it (warning: the below video also features Alice Deejay). pic.twitter.com/2G386dasfq — Monkey Haircut (@MonkeyHaircut) September 26, 2017 The original video was first uploaded to Facebook back in February, but only became viral after a still from the clip...
Pepe the Frog creator Matt Furie has long been fighting the appropriation of his character by the US far right, and he just won a minor battle, Motherboard reports. A children's book that touted Islamophobic and anti-immigration views has been pulled from Amazon after Furie sued him for copyright infringement, and the profits (US$1521) will be donated to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim-American advocacy group. The book, written by former Texan assistant principal Eric Hauser, told the story of two friends -- Pepe and Pede -- who fought to keep evil alligator Alkah out of their home, Wishington Farm. Alkah -- just...
It's Monday. But instead of throwing that alarm clock out of the window and cowering beneath the covers, why not take some time to bitch about how short the weekend was? And where better to do just that than Twitter. Feeling the bone-chilling embrace of the new work week, South African Twitter is today talking about the little things that annoy them to no end. #101ThingsIFindAnnoying began trending countrywide late morning, thanks to an initial tweet by Twitter user Sheldon Cameron. #101ThingsIFindAnnoying Stores advertising things and when you get there dololo stock. pic.twitter.com/eYTDW39ngC — Sheldon Cameron (@Sheldon_Cameron) July 24, 2017 Soon enough, the rest of...
Citizens of South Africa are no strangers to creating their own memes -- from cheeky hashtags to images that ire Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, they know how to start a trend. But despite the amount of original content, there is one thing South Africans do not have control over: the GIFs they use. Sure, GIFs are still a big part of South African Twitter, but they aren't locally made and often make use of American content. Hlaudi - "I don't want to respond to the wind." 😂😂💩#CountryDutypic.twitter.com/3CLTMqKstx — SnoopyBez (@SnoopyBez) July 18, 2017 There are few reasons why South Africa may still rely on internationally...
I could write a think piece on the Hot Dog meme that's dominated the last few weeks on social media, but I value myself -- and you -- too highly for that. So here's a roundup of some of the best memes, accompanied by some facts. pic.twitter.com/l2wKu0hysc — ♡brittany♡ (@brittany_melone) July 4, 2017 Hot Dog is a filter on Snapchat that can be added to any photo and video. Its earliest appearance was on 23 June, when someone filmed their friend getting a nose piercing accompanied by the mascot. The ten second video has over 42 000 views on YouTube. Hot Dog then started harassing sleeping...
Bill Wurtz has a notoriously surreal internet presence, from his "History of" videos to his weird "notebook" which are basically tweets but not... on Twitter. He has a weird Twitter as well. Now he's racked up over 1.4-million views on a video in just one day, and that video simultaneously makes no sense and all the sense in the world. "Hi, I'm Steve"Â has a very 2007 "i'm so random xD!" feel to it, denoting the life of animated Steve (just kidding, his name's not Steve). Â Steve goes on adventures like climbing mountains, filing tax extensions, and unemployment. Many commenters have revered the...
Gabi Dunn broke up with her boyfriend a few days after prom, but instead of letting her pictures go to waste she saw an opportunity to make them even better. My boyfriend and I broke up a few days after prom, so I decided to "edit" the photos a little @VancityReynoldspic.twitter.com/Ecvn5Wkgb4 — Gabi Dunn (@gabidunn99) July 4, 2017 Photoshopping in Ryan Reynolds, Dunn posted the images to Twitter, tagging the actor (and husband to Blake Lively). Six hours later, she had an endorsement from Reynolds himself, encouraging her even further. "#DontMessWithGabi," he wrote. We should photoshop me over his yearbook picture next. #DontMessWithGabihttps://t.co/o0qFBXvSNi — Ryan Reynolds...
Yesterday Miss South Africa Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was in Soweto serving soup and bread rolls to kids. Today, it's one of Twitter's top trending topics. Why? Three words: gloves, hygiene and #MissSAChallenge. On Wednesday afternoon, this tweet published by the official Miss South Africa Twitter account became viral. We're helping @TheMaslowHotel with the #MaslowSoupKitchen here at Ikageng in Soweto. pic.twitter.com/eM25SPl0tS — Miss South Africa (@Official_MissSA) July 5, 2017 Noticeably, Nel-Peters is wearing gloves in these pictures. And Twitter wanted to know why. Some users gave their opinions. Why are you wearing gloves? Scared of catching the Black or?? — Rosalia (@MsZondi06) July 5, 2017 What's unhygienic about touching black...
When Makenna from Wyoming visited California, she made sure to stop by US President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to clean and polish it. The star was filled with scribbles, and Makenna didn't approve. She had her friend take pictures of her while she cleaned it, and posted them to Twitter claiming she was "#RaisedRight." Stopped to clean @realDonaldTrump Hollywood Star. Nothing but respect for MY President. #RaisedRight pic.twitter.com/jL4sqx4rlh — Makenna (@makenna_mg) June 28, 2017 "Nothing but respect for MY president," she wrote. Naturally, the tweet picked up traction. The first to respond was Alexa, who posted a picture of herself after...
It's difficult to imagine a world of communication without the wonder of GIFs, but that's how people had to live just 30 years ago. Today, 15 June, is the 30th birthday of the GIF and we thought it an apt time to pool together some of the most iconic looped images in celebration. It's party time. Dancing Banana Dancing banana came from web classic Peanut Butter Jelly Time and we owe so much of "random xD" culture to it. A blessing and a curse, but today we love you, banana. Perfectly looped rap battle This beautiful GIF feels like its been around since the world's existence, but somehow...
It's been one whole year without Harambe, internet. Sunday marked 365 days since the silverback gorilla was shot at the Cincinnati Zoo after a four-year-old fell into its enclosure. The incident has become an iconic moment in pop culture, drawing criticism from both sides of the argument. While some blame the child's parents, others believe it was right to shoot the gorilla. A swathe of others believed that the Zoo should bear the brunt of the legal charges. But the internet doesn't forget, especially when Harambe is the topic of conversation. One Year Ago Today: We lost a great one. RIP Harambe pic.twitter.com/loTqPM2VGO — Gentleman's...
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