Sri Lanka Social Media Weekly News Update

Sri Lanka Weekly Social Media News Update 05/06/2017

Here’s our latest social media update on the trending new last week in Sri Lanka and around the world.

This week our team wrote about:

Our Blogs

  • Flood Relief Sri Lanka 2017An in-depth look at the flood relief system in Sri Lanka and the role of social media in it. Did the authorities get it right? Did help reach the affected quickly and correctly? What could we have done better?

What Went Viral in Sri Lanka?

  • Flooding in Sri Lanka

Heavy rains and winds caused flooding in almost all of the down south area of Sri Lanka with cities such as Galle, Matara, Kalutara, Rathnapura and others going under water. Towns like Akuressa, Baddegama and Deniyaya were also affected badly as the rising water level forced many out of their homes and the unexpectedly strong currents took away some lives with it. Landslides occurred in regions of the country that caused further harm to the lives of citizens. While the waters have finally receded, a large number of people are still struggling to figure out how they should restart their lives after the disaster. #FloodSL was trending through the course of the flooding.

  • Minister Gayantha Karunatilleke’s unique flood relief efforts

Minister Gayantha Karunatilleke adopted a rather unique method of reaching out the displaced and affected in the floods that turned the country upside down over the past couple of weeks. The donation, to be exact, is a parcel of five bananas with a sticker bearing his name and a bit of really badly timed PR. The masses criticised this move fiercely as now, for trying to make a marketing campaign out of the natural disaster that left so many homeless and even killed well over a 100 people.

  • Is plastic rice doing the rounds in Sri Lanka?

Over the past few days, there have been an increasing and rather alarming number of videos that have been circulated mostly on Facebook. The videos show a certain type of rice, for the major part purchased from Sathosa in Pitakotte, that the consumers claim is plastic rice. As proof, they make a rice-ball and throw it against the floor wherein it bounces and maintains the consistency. Normal rice would immediately fall apart if put through this. This is actually a cause for concern as ingesting synthetic rice could have seriously negative effects on the consumers. the circulation of this on social media if done correctly, and with sufficient proof as to the truth of the matter, can help keep consumers safe and compel the relevant authorities to take action. 

This Week’s International Hubbub

  • Ireland sets example in LGBTI equality

Leo Varadkar became Ireland’s first ever gay prime minister which went viral on the “Equal Marriage Rights Australia” Facebook page. The post was captioned saying that in Australia the government denies LGBTI Australians equal dignity under the law and then pulled up Ireland’s broad-minded approach to this as an example of how they should be treated equally.

  • London Attacks

A video of the speech given by Prime Minister candidate in UK’s Labour party Jeremy Corbyn went viral on his Facebook page. Hundreds of citizens approved of his ethics and morality and even stated that they hope to “wake up to a Labour government on the 9th June”. In the face of the terror that broke out on London Bridge claiming the lives of many, Jeremy’s words seem to have resonated with many. #LondonAttacks and #OneLoveManchester were trending on Twitter in the wake of the two almost back to back terror attacks on the country.

Stats of the Week

Voices LANKA ranked among the top fastest growing entertainment Facebook Pages in Sri Lanka last week, however, a look at their Youtube statistics indicate that while they many have a channel, they need to work towards increasing the user base on the platform. It is easy to overlook the fact that Youtube does and can, in fact, open up doors to a wider audience. With a good fan base that follows them on Facebook, it would be easy to get a large amount of views and more engagement on Youtube if the fans can be directed in the correct manner.

VOICES LANKA YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:

Total Subscribers -309
Total Videos -196
Total views -132,435

Sri Lanka wrrkly social media news update

UNICEF Sri Lanka has one of the fastest growing societies on Facebook, however, their Youtube usage is almost next to nothing. In an organisation such as the UNICEF, it is extremely important to reach out to a large and possibly international audience which can easily be achieved through correct promoting methods on Youtube. It would also give the organisation more engagement and followers.

UNICEF Sri Lanka YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:

Total Subscribers -189
Total Videos -122
Total views -97,441

sri lanka weekly social media news update

Things you should know

  • Facebook albums aren’t just for photos anymore

Facebook has recently introduced Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories and the My Day section in the Facebook Messenger. Perhaps, they felt that this was insufficient which is why they are rolling out to Android and the web a new addition which will allow you to add text posts, check-ins and other content forms to your photo albums. This will be made available to iOS soon as well. The albums that you upload will also be available for being featured on your profile.

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