A man by the name of Adam Catzavelos is receiving heated criticism from South African political parties, citizens and social media users after he published a video in which he uses a racial slur. Said video was republished to Twitter on Tuesday, in which Catzavelos can be seen enjoying sunshine on an exotic beach. After giving his viewers a weather report, he also announces that there's not "one k***** in sight". "You can't beat this," he adds in 20 second clip. "..... and not one K@!##&÷ in sight " wow... why doesn't he move there then. Some of you white folks are...
Recommended posts are coming to Instagram, according to the company's latest announcement. The feature, which mirror's Twitter's recommendation tweets, will appear at the bottom of your timeline "once you’ve seen everything new from people you follow," the social network writes. This feature is supposed to help extend the range of posts users see, and the range of users who see your posts. “Our goal is to make Feed the best place to share and connect with people and interests that matter most to you”, Instagram adds. It's not clear if or how these recommendations will favour some users over others. The feature's currently being...
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, has died. The singer-songwriter fell ill earlier this week, and died on 16 August as a result of pancreatic cancer. She was 76. Born in 1942 in Memphis, USA, Aretha Franklin's career spanned seven decades, and included hits like "Respect", "Natural Woman" and "I Say A Little Prayer". Selling some 75-million records, there's no doubt that she had a massive impact on the music industry. Celebrities took to Twitter on Thursday night to mourn her death, celebrate her life, and thank her for her contribution to society. Former US President Barack Obama led the sentiment. "Aretha helped define the American...
If you need more than 15GB of storage space for all those reaction GIFs, cat pictures and birthday party videos, Google and WhatsApp has some good news. "Starting November 12, 2018, WhatsApp backups will no longer count towards the Google Drive storage quota," alerts the messaging service in an update to its FAQ. Previously, WhatsApp backups -- essential when transferring accounts across phones -- counted towards Google Drive's 15GB storage quota. If your Drive didn't have any free space, you couldn't complete a backup. This is no longer the case. With that said though, Google will now delete backups that are older than...
If you’ve been having issues accessing your Instagram account, you’re not alone. According to a post published to Instagram’s official blog late Tuesday, it's aware of an access problem to some users' accounts and is investigating further. "We are aware that some people are having difficulty accessing their Instagram accounts," the company briefly explained. We are aware that some people are having difficulty accessing their Instagram accounts. If you think you have been impacted, please follow our guidance to regain access: https://t.co/DfHpQuk9SJ — Instagram (@instagram) August 15, 2018 Users quickly took to Twitter to beg Instagram for help and guidance. "I'm concerned because my...
UCT is again coming under fire on social media after a lecturer took to Facebook to criticise women for the #MenAreTrash movement, and confessing to having thoughts about raping his two-year-old daughter. UPDATE: UCT chooses not to suspend lecturer after #MenAreTrash Facebook post The post, published by chemical engineering lecturer Arthur Mabentsela, suggested that men should not be blamed if women couldn't "attract and retain a quality man". "It was not me who said open your legs to a f**k boy," the rant continued. The post, along with a reply to a comment on said post, was screenshot by a UCT student and...
It's been more than a year since Twitter Lite launched in a select number of countries, including South Africa. Today, the social network announced that its lightweight Android app is heading to 21 more countries, five of which are in Africa. Said African nations receiving the app includes Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Uganda and Zimbabwe. This brings the total number of countries to 46. Twitter Lite is a web app for those living the data struggle Twitter has announced that its mobile site is now more convenient for the 45% of global mobile users working on 2G or slower networks. Read more... Twitter Lite "is a faster,...
Big news for footballing fans and social media users across the Indian subcontinent this week. Facebook will broadcast every Spanish La Liga football match during the 2018/19 season for free across eight Asian countries. The league features some of world football's most popular players, including Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos. For La Liga, the deal will broaden the reach of the league across Asia with minimal effort. "One of our goals for the last two years has been to offer content to the widest audience possible, so partnering with free platforms like Facebook, which has 270-million users in India, is...
Facebook's really worried that Pages with mass followings will possibly fall into the hands of a nefarious super villain. Last week, the social network outlined plans to enforce tighter security for those who admin Facebook Pages with a "large audience". The company didn't clarify how many followers or likes constitute a large audience. Users who manage these pages will be forced to complete "an authorisation process in order to continue to post". This includes enabling two-factor authentication, and confirm their location. This is all in a bid to make it more difficult for trolls to gain unauthorised access to popular Pages. Facebook admins who...
Instagram isn't just about posting pictures of your lunch, or selfies with you and the pug. Like all social networks, it can actually be used as an educational tool. Here are a few South African accounts illustrating this point. @birds_by_rousseau Follow for: a wealth of information about South Africa's birds. Ran by Stellenbosch University lecturer Rousseau Lotter, this account is dedicated to documenting the bevy of bird species prevalent in South Africa. From glossy starlings to doves, to kestrels and spoonbills, this account will help even the novice bird watcher identify their featured subject. The Cape Glossy Starling shown here is distinguished from some...
Arsenal is a massive football club, but there's one thing even bigger than it: #WengerOut. The hashtag has become something of a global meme since it began as a way for fans to show displeasure towards their long standing manager's, Arsene Wenger, tactics. Hell, it even has a Know Your Meme page, and has been spotted at protests (including those against former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe last year). While Wenger finally left the club before the 2018/19 season began, he was replaced by Spanish manager Unai Emery. But it seems that Arsenal fans just can't find a manager they like. Because memes...
With Google’s recent launch of Android 9 comes Emoji 11.0 and a bunch of new, expressive and politically correct, emojis for users. Though the entire list is 157 new characters long, here are some of our honourable mentions. The Hot Face This emoji looks like it just ran a marathon it didn’t train for, and is so relatable to everyday life. I can imagine it being used to describe anything from a terribly hot day, to disappointing food and even just the general fatigue of daily life we all suffer from. The Pleading Face Admittedly the so called pleading face looks more like the face...
If you were in central Cape Town at around 9am on Tuesday morning, you may have missed something pretty spectacular. And indeed, pretty. Instagram is this morning awash with snaps of the recent rainfall, and more impressively, an expansive rainbow. Bowing almost entirely across the sky and featuring a slightly lighter companion just above it, the broad ribbon was visible across much of the southern suburbs, Cape Flats and the city's eastern district. Here's what Instagram users across Cape Town caught on their smartphones: I tried to capture this morning's rainbow 🌈 with a panorama feature on my phone and it turned out...
At least 91 people have died after a series of earthquakes struck the small island of Lombok, Indonesia late on Sunday. USGS recorded at least 10 quakes within a 100km radius, the largest of which measured 6.9 magnitude. According to the institution, tremors were felt as far as Bali to the West, and Sumbawa too the East. The region is massively popular among tourists. Sutopo Purwo, head of information at the BNPB Information and Public Relations Center, documented the chaos from Lombok on Twitter. This video was taken from within the Karangasem Hospital in Bali. Kerusakan bangunan RSUD Karangasem Bali akibat gempa 7 SR...
Today Capetonians woke to rain, gridlocked highways, late trains, buses on fire, and a taxi strike. Yes, yet another taxi strike began in the early hours of Monday morning across the Western Cape. According to a News24 report, the strike is the result of a leadership dispute within the South African National Taxi Council. As a side effect, commuters who use taxis to travel across the province were left stranded on Monday. Folks gonna be expected to take "alternative" transport to work. Alternative being a code word for teleportation. #TaxiStrike — Sarkastik Observer 🦈🔱 (@Sindelo_) August 6, 2018 Some commuters who braved the strike...
South Africa fumes online after girl was raped in Dros restaurant toilet
Julius Malema will let JSomething keep his land in an EFF-led South Africa
Dros Silverton bombarded by negative reviews after child rape
Video: Hey Cape Town, it’s officially snowing on Table Mountain right now
SA government asks Twitter users to stop sharing videos of Dros rape
Cyril Ramaphosa’s stimulus package gets social media talking
Web’s inventor Tim Berners-Lee wants to give users control of their internet data
Updating: ‘Wildcat’ MyCiti strike brings Cape Town to a standstill
This sometimes drunk, adorable pigeon is New Zealand’s bird of the year
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry excite the internet with #royalbaby news
Twitter’s new favourite Ariana Grande song is ‘pete davidson’
Memeburn focuses on everything digital in the emerging markets sphere. More about us here
More in News, Trends & Hashtags
Watch: Julius Malema gives Donald Trump a sassy new nickname