Here’s our latest update of what went viral on social media in Sri Lanka and across the world last week
What Went Viral in Sri Lanka?
- Breakdown of Modi’s helicopters blown out of proportion?
It appears that a helicopter belonging to the Modi entourage was unable to take off due to technical difficulties and had to remain grounded at Asgiriya. The news went viral on social media with many people stating that the reason for the breakdown is the fact that it flew above the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Has the news been taken out of context and has it been exaggerated into something that it is not?
- Bombing attempt on the Sri Lanka Medical Council
A hand grenade was thrown into the premises of the Sri Lanka Medical Council on the night of Friday, the 12th May. However, fortunately, the grenade did not detonate, thereby saving the lives of the security guards on duty at the time and also many records of doctors and other medical information. Had the bomb exploded, it would have caused damage to about a radius of 50 meters. The next morning when the grenade was spotted, the bomb disposal unit arrived to deactivate it. Meanwhile, the STF has been brought in to provided security to the premises and investigations are underway to find out those responsible.
- Ransomware cyber attack on NHS
#NHScyberattack trended on Twitter after the NHS faced a crisis that rendered it vulnerable and unable to operate at full capacity. Amid postponed surgeries, cancelled appointments and diverted ambulances, the only point of relief perhaps was that the NHS could not find evidence to say that patient records had been accessed. However, all of the system’s crucial files were encrypted following the attack which made it impossible for anybody to access them unless they pay a ransom of $300 worth in Bitcoin to the hackers. It also came to light that the majority of the computer systems in NHS are running on Windows XP which has not been supported by Microsoft for the past couple of years. It is about time, we think that such crucial information was well secured and backed up.
“The NHS #CyberAttack was just one of those things that can happen and nothing to do with government cuts… Oh.” https://t.co/LDigr4pnS3
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) May 13, 2017
- Israeli TV anchor holds back tears on air over channel’s shutdown
The video of Israeli Tv anchor, Geula Even holding back tears after she was informed while on air that the channel would be shutting down went viral on social media. The rather abrupt and emotional send off to the 49-year-old Mabat LaHadshot or “A glance at the news” comes after a long political battle with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Many of the staff and opposition lawmakers have accused the minister of trying to control the media “much like Trump”. Channel 1 aired its last news episode on Tuesday and the authorities have stated that this reform is in order to create the platform for “better organisations.”
Stats of the Week
The fastest growing media Facebook page in Sri Lanka, last week was the BBC Sinhala page. However, it is interesting that their YouTube usage is almost next to nothing with stats as follows:
Total Subscribers -0
Total Videos -25
Total views -113
It is a common factor that most organisations do not consider or simply dismiss YouTube as a great source of engagement and PR for their brands when it could provide them with a wide audience, versatile followers and cost-effective PR.
- Top 05 Fastest Growing Society Facebook Page in Sri Lanka – Ranil Wickramasinghe
The Facebook page of Ranil Wickramasinghe ranked among the top 05 fastest growing pages in Sri Lanka, again, with little to no use of YouTube. Cross-promoting is a key factor in developing the image of a brand or a public figure, which also is overlooked for the most part.
The YouTube stats for the page are as follows:
Total Subscribers -167
Total Videos -68
Total views -32,424
Things you should know
- Facebook Reduces Links to Low-Quality Web Page Experiences
Facebook stated on the 10th of May that they would be rolling out an update with the sole purpose of providing the community with better content and a minimum amount of ads. The update will cut down the number of posts on your news feed that will lead to adverts and spamming. The update will therefore effectively deter the economic incentives of financially motivated spammers according to Facebook.