Here’s our latest analytical overview of social media’s hottest topics in Sri Lanaka and around the world last week.
This week our team wrote about;
What went Viral in Sri Lanka?
- Government implements the SAITM solution
The Tweet from Minister Harsha de Silva with regards to the SAITM solution and it’s conditions was met with strongly mixed comments that ranged from congratulating him on the solution of implementing various standards at SAITM to requests that asked the government to maintain the right rules if SAITM is to be continued and forthright outrage that asked Harsha to “cross over to the other side” as it was “shameful” that SAITM is still being considered.
President appointed 9 member Committee (plus 3 observers) to implement SAITM solution. This is a tough one, but I am determined to deliver. pic.twitter.com/fgZJRnHHBf
— Harsha de Silva (@HarshadeSilvaMP) November 6, 2017
- Namal’s take on the 2018 budget
After the 2018 budget proposal as presented, Namal Rajapaksa had a lot to say about how the taxes are high and how the price of a beer can coming down is contradictory of the policy that the President carries against usage of alcohol and other substances. His Tweet was met with a barrage of comments and the majority of them had “laughing uncontrollably” emos in them.
#SriLanka Government’s 2018 #budget is imposing so much tax on important goods & services but has reduced the price of a beer can. What happened to @MaithripalaS’s policy to reduce alcohol use in the country?
— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) November 10, 2017
- The rise of the bicycle and bullock cart
Bicycles and bullock carts seemed to be the preferred and trending mode of transport for many a minister last week including former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son Namal Rajapaksa as they travelled to the parliament sessions during the petrol shortage. This act of using bicycles became the brunt of many memes where people questioned whether the security paarde behind in cars are actually running on water.
This Week’s International Hubbub
- New Delhi takes the award for air pollution
In a study done, New Delhi came as the number one for having the most polluted air. As per the standards, the air pollution index in general if over 300 and is considered hazardous and in New Delhi is has crossed over to 950 and above. It’s not difficult to do the math to see that this is over 300 times the hazardous limit and the index that was shared on Facebook went viral.
- Donald Trump’s visit to Vietnam and bone spurs
Trump tweeted on his visit to Vietnam in commemoration of the civil war ending there. The tweet was viral within minutes and many people congratulated Trump on having battled bone spurs. This was of course being sarcastic towards the fact that Trump had received four deferments in total that would prevent him from serving in the military as per the requirement that existed at the time. Three of these were for college purposes and the last was for a bone spur in his heel. Senator John McCain brought out the fact and stated that if every American is asked to serve they must serve, but later said that the comment has nothing to do with Trump.
“Presidential Proclamation Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War”
➡️https://t.co/hgUQP9leqK
➡️https://t.co/9C0yyIv9Ws pic.twitter.com/f9snmRUA4a— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 11, 2017
Stats of the Week
Lokaya Saha Lokayo, ranked once more among the top five fastest growing entertainment Facebook pages in the country even though they do not maintain a good cross promotion with YouTube.
Lokaya Saha Lokayo YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:
Total Subscribers -4
Total Videos -5
Total views -120
Sirasa TV maintains a good relationship with their YouTube channel and Facebook page and ranked in among the top five fastest growing media Facebook pages in Sri Lanka. Sirasa TV has since the start, maintained a good relationship between both mediums and the majority of the programs telecasted can also be watched online and on YouTube.
Sirasa TV YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:
Total Subscribers -102,325
Total Videos -13,199
Total views -83,913,417
Things you should know
- Instagram changes main feed letting users follow hashtags and accounts
The photo sharing app has decided to give a bit of a makeover to their main feed thereby letting users follow both hashtags and accounts which aims at making it easier for users to find content that they are interested in.