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Social

  • Ted Cruz inadvertently helps Twitter porn account to 19000 more followers

    By on 13 September, 2017

    Texas Senator Ted Cruz might've been the joke of Twitter yesterday when his account liked a pornographic video, but he has been a boon for business for one particular Twitter account. Call it the Barbra Streisand effect, or call it inadvertent social marketing, but after Cruz's account slapped @SexuallPosts' like button, an influx of followers followed. Analytics firm SocialBlade noted this rise on the 12 September as 11 770 users. That's around 9000 more followers per day than the porn account's general daily follow count. This wasn't a once off either. Today (13 September), SocialBlade saw an additional boom of 7400 users...

  • From Barbuda to Miami: social media captures Irma’s path of destruction

    By on 13 September, 2017

    Hurricane Irma is a storm that the world probably won't forget. The storm is among the most intense for a number of reasons, and has slashed a number of long-standing records for cyclones and hurricanes alike. But it has also carved a furrow of destruction through some of the Caribbean's poorest, most vulnerable countries, and the Florida peninsula. The like of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter users have witnessed this destruction first hand, with many broadcasting the storm's arrival live, or tweeting about the destruction after it passes. Read more: catch Memeburn's additional Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Jose and Katia coverage More than 13...

  • #AppleEvent: the highs, the lows and the memes from Apple’s iPhone X launch

    By on 12 September, 2017

    Today at its headquarters in Cupertino, Apple announced a refreshed product lineup including a number of new iPhones, a new Apple TV and a shiny new Apple Watch, and Twitter users were (sure enough) reporting live from their armchairs. For all the technical specifications and more, you might want to visit our sister site Gearburn. But over here, we took a deeper, introspective look at social media's reaction to Apple's launch event, from start to finish. Sit back, and enjoy the memes, joy and jibes from the bleachers. The buildup... The hype pre-event was palpable, with many readying getting those stacks of dollars. #AppleEvent Tim...

  • Ted Cruz likes porn video on Twitter, trends worldwide

    By on 12 September, 2017

    Republican senator Ted Cruz was the laughing stock of Twitter on Tuesday, after the politician's Twitter account liked a pornographic video from another account. The account in question, the aptly-named @SexuallPosts, posted a video to the social network featuring two women and a man engaging in sexual activities. While over 520 people liked the post, Cruz was among the most influential with over three-million followers. "Thanks for watching ted," @SexuallPosts tweeted, taking full advantage of the blunder. It also changed its bio to this gem: "Follow for the Same Porn @TedCruz Watches." Twitter users soon noticed the unashamed like, which remained on Cruz's...

  • Make your video campaigns pop with these Twitter-endorsed tricks

    By on 12 September, 2017

    As Twitter evolves from a social network reliant on short sentences to one that privileges video, content has never been more important for individuals and companies. Because the company's as curious as we are, senior director of Twitter's EMEA division Barry Collins took a closer look into the shift, and in particular, what type of video content works on the network. "New research has revealed what works best in newsfeeds and how effective brand video can be on Twitter, both for organic content and promoted," he writes, in a piece sent to Memeburn. While he naturally punted Twitter's video ads' effectiveness for...

  • Twitter wants you to rant and rave with this hidden ‘tweetstorm’ feature

    By on 11 September, 2017

    If you've ever used "THREAD" to headline a tweet and number the subsequent posts in your rant, congratulations, you've created a tweetstorm. Regrettably, constructing one is a pain in the ass, and it seems that Twitter agrees. That's why this particular discovery by an eagle-eyed Twitter user has caught many an eye. WOAH! Twitter has a hidden tweet storm feature! h/t Devesh Logendran pic.twitter.com/QpDLhKnAZZ — Matt Navarra ⭐️ (@MattNavarra) September 10, 2017 Two screenshots sent to The Next Web's Matt Navarra depict a graphical feature within the Twitter Android app that allows users to compose tweetstorms in their entirety and then smash the send...

  • PewDiePie flamed on Twitter for using n-word in livestream

    By on 11 September, 2017

    Don't look now, but the Swedish YouTube star known as PewDiePie has done something stupid on camera yet again. 27-year-old Felix Kjellberg was this weekend livestreaming a playthrough of sandbox-shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, when he blurted a racial slur at another player in his line of fire. "What a f**king n****r," he scoffed. "Sorry but what the f**k? What a f**king a*****e," he continued. @pewdiepie RACIST?? @KEEMSTAR @JohnScarce pic.twitter.com/ulAz45ZN28 — Felipe Diaz (@ThatFelipeDiaz) September 10, 2017 A snippet of the stream was republished on Saturday to Twitter, where users flamed the Swedish YouTuber for his choice words. He didn't mean to tho so it's ok 👌🏾💀 pic.twitter.com/dShFZ9QBbO —...

  • Is Tinder a completely different app for men and women?

    By on 11 September, 2017

    I've never had Tinder, but it was always something that fascinated me, and whenever I met someone who used it I found myself asking a barrage of questions. From the beginning, I picked up on the discrepancy between my straight dude friends who hated the experience and the straight girls who loved it. I was around when two women created their accounts -- within weeks, both had got exactly what they wanted out of the app. From casual dates to long-term boyfriends, it seemed the app was teeming with men for any kind of woman. For straight men? Not so much. My...

  • #Uber: South Africans take to Twitter to support attacked Sandton drivers

    By on 8 September, 2017

    Three cars were torched in Sandton Thursday evening in a suspected protest between metered taxi drivers and Uber. According to provincial spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo, preliminary investigations showed two of the cars belonged to Uber, and the third was a metered taxi. No one was harmed. Images and videos of the incident poured onto Twitter as #Uber hit top trending spot nationally. .@TimesLIVE richest square km in Africa (Sandton) is burning as metered and uber drivers set each others vehicles alight pic.twitter.com/GtpJw9FKSV — Graeme Hosken (@GraemeHosken) September 7, 2017 Sitting in Sandton watching the chaos.Getting ugly. #uber drivers fighting back.chased away all metre taxi drivers from...

  • Don’t serve Fikile Mbalula a cauliflower burger, he’ll arrest you

    By on 7 September, 2017

    South Africa's police minister Fikile Mbalula is never shy of a chuckle or two on Twitter. What he is afraid of though are cauliflower burgers. Taking to Twitter, Mbalula retweeted a Men's Health citing KFC's purported cauliflower-and-kale burger. Unveiled in February 2017 by the company's UK and Ireland division, the campaign didn't receive a positive reception, and the minister was also having none of it. "Will arrest whoever made this !!" he writes. Will arrest whoever made this !! https://t.co/0YOQye8urn — RSA Police Minister (@MbalulaFikile) September 7, 2017 "Crime against foodminity," he added. The initial tweet coughed up over 800 retweets and 700 likes, as people...

  • Kenny Kunene unfazed by Twitter criticism of shooting

    By on 7 September, 2017

    Businessman Kenny Kunene found himself the target of online scorn this past week after rumours that he survived being shot at by 21 bullets -- but he's told News24 that he doesn't let the criticism get to him. A rare picture of Kenny Kunene just minding his own business ., who knew 😁😁😂 #KennyKunene pic.twitter.com/cj73Cfx5VR — Issa Hotep™ (@N01Skelm) September 6, 2017 Kunene says he was travelling Tuesday evening in a BMW when he was approached by four men who opened fire on him and the woman he was with. The two quickly drove away, and neither were harmed. The car was allegedly hit by...

  • Hurricane Irma, Jose and Katia now have personal Twitter accounts

    By on 7 September, 2017

    Twitter has become an important tool in disseminating news of the Atlantic's current bout of extreme weather, but some aren't using the social network for as serious purposes. All three hurricanes --Irma, Jose and now Katia -- now have personal "official" Twitter accounts, tweeting the daily thoughts of a storm hurtling towards land. Katia and Jose were upgraded in the early hours of Thursday morning, while Irma has been a category 5 storm for over 24 hours now -- a record in itself. Irma's first tweet appropriately used the #NewProfilePic trope, but it became a novel way to showcase the power of...

  • Facebook may have earned $150k from US election-hacking ads

    By on 7 September, 2017

    Facebook has divulged that it could have earned up to US$150 000 from Russian ads that targeted the 2016 United States election. The company studied ads bought between June 2015 and May 2017 and found 3000 that were connected to 470 accounts promoting content that violated its policies. These ads were all "likely operated out of Russia", and brought in US$100 000. Another study looked at a broader range of ads that could have Russian origin, including those with US IP addresses and the language set to Russian. This search found around 2200 politically-related ads. They accounted for another US$50 000. Many of the...

  • Twitter’s night mode now available on desktop

    By on 7 September, 2017

    Twitter's night mode is heading to a desktop near you. Available on Android and iOS since July and August respectively, night mode is now coming to the company's website. Notably, this feature has been available on a number of other services for a while. TweetDeck is probably the best example. But if you prefer the simplicity of the website, you now needn't burn a hole through your eyes with its piercing white background. It's simple to switch on too. The company explains: To enable night mode via twitter.com, click on your profile photo, then select Night mode from the drop-down menu. To disable...

  • Bafana Bafana disappoints South Africans yet again

    By on 6 September, 2017

    South Africa's 2018 World Cup dreams have been shattered as Bafana Bafana lost the third round of the World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde last night -- and Twitter did not let it happen quietly. By Wednesday morning, the team was trending in the top spot on Twitter, with Cape Verde in sixth, as South Africans cracked jokes to mask their pain. Bafana Bafana is by far the most emotionally abusive relationship I will ever get myself into — Siya Sowati (@Siya705) September 5, 2017 Many made the connection between the under-performing team and the South African government. Are #Bafana bafana players like government...