The Week on TwitterTopical

The Week on Twitter: Rocky Horror and ISIS

By Louisa McGrath

Twitter Makes a Stand Against ISIS #OpISIS

This week it was revealed that Twitter deleted more than 10,000 accounts linked to the terrorist group ISIS for tweeting violent threats. This was an unprecedented move as Twitter has been reluctant to suppress the terrorist group’s Twitter activities up until now, but the move comes after mounting pressure for the company to take some sort of action.

Anonymous, the international network of online activists, has been campaigning for Twitter to take action and may have contributed to this result. The campaign entitled ‘Operation Anti-Isis’ or #OpISIS has been encouraging Anonymous members and supporters to unveil ISIS affiliated Twitter accounts and report them to the social network’s authorities. The group publicly released a list of 9,200 of these accounts a few weeks ago, followed by another list with a further 26,000 accounts. It also exposed companies which have been hosting ISIS websites in the same way. Anonymous also claims to have hacked and destroyed a number of these websites.

In another surprising development on Twitter yesterday the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, responded to a Tweet calling him a fascist by tweeting “Heil Hitler”.

Many Twitter users have expressed their disgust at the President’s lack of Twitter etiquette.

 

RIP #WalterScott

On Monday Walter Scott was trending in Ireland and around the world as 114,000 tweets were posted in reaction to the emergence of a video of his death. Walter Scott who was killed by a policeman in South Carolina last Saturday after being pulled over for a traffic violation. The policeman claimed he shot Mr. Scott in self-defense, but video footage which emerged on Monday showed that this was untrue and he shot Mr. Scott in the back as he tried to run away. This sparked protests in South Carolina, as well as uproar on social media. A fund set up to support the police officer who has been charged with the murder has also enraged many Tweeters.

 

‘The Strip’ of Dublin #CamdenChaos

On Tuesday night RTÉ 2 featured a programme called Camden Chaos as part of its Reality Bites series. The show was filmed over two days on Camden Street, which is well known for its pubs and clubs, and captured all those that came and went during this time. The documentary showed the messier side of Dublin and featured some of RTÉ’s usual cringey style. It got people talking as it trended on Twitter; reactions included various emotions from nostalgia to worry.

https://twitter.com/luciaward/status/585900806588739584

https://twitter.com/Caoimhe_NiOgain/status/585907688141357057

But this seems to sum the show up best of all…

 

Recycling Lies To Show A #ShredofDecency

This week stationery shop Daintree Paper has made waves on social media with its new campaign to support Marriage Equality. The paper shop on Camden Street has started turning dishonest and negative literature from the campaign against same-sex marriage into pretty, heart-shaped confetti called ‘A Shred of Decency’. The campaign has received an overwhelming amount of positive support on Twitter and seems to be catching on quickly.

https://twitter.com/cathy_donohue/status/585457361936068608

 

The Ring of Fire: Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park is currently trending on Twitter as firefighters attempt to put out the largest ever fire the park has experienced. It is believed that the blaze may have started out as a gorse fire earlier in the week, which continued to spread with the good weather. People have been told to avoid the area and the air corps has begun to assist firefighters in Kerry.

 

Lets Do The Time Warp Again: Rocky Horror Picture Show

Fox has announced it is creating a new version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the form of a movie for television. The production is already in the making and marks the 40th anniversary of the cult classic. According to Entertainment Weekly, the remake will be directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega of High School Musical, but the original film producer, Lou Adler, is also involved. There is no new writer for the TV movie as Fox has decided to stick to the original text of the 1973 play. This may come as a relief for some fans as most reactions on Twitter have quite negative.

Louisa McGrath 31 posts 0 comments

Louisa is a freelance writer based in Dublin. Having graduated from DIT, she is now scrambling to leave student life behind and establish herself in the world of journalism. Tweeting from @LouisaMcGrath

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