Sri Lanka Social Media Weekly News Update

Sri Lanka Weekly Social Media News Update 17/07/2017

Here’s our weekly update for the trending topics and viral news on social media last week in Sri Lanka and the rest of the world

This week our team wrote about:

Our Blogs

  • Instagram in Sri Lanka; a survey summary on the most and least followed Instagram accounts in Sri Lanka based on several categories

What Went Viral in Sri Lanka?

  • Sri Lankan “Shape of You” mashup goes viral

A mashup done by three Sri Lankans who represent “Deep Sounds” has compiled a mashup of the infamous hit, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran. The video went viral on Facebook with over 13k reactions and 17k shares and almost 780 odd comments and still counting. This was possibly the biggest “entertainment viral news” to take Facebook by storm in Sri Lanka last week.

  • A successful heart operation done in the Kandy general hospital

The first heart transplant surgery in Sri Lanka took place in the Kandy General Hospital on the 07th July 2017. The operation was a success. The receiver was a 34 year old lady from Anuradhapura whose heart had indicated a malfunction of about 12%. The donor was a 24 year old male pronounced deceased after brain death. Posted on BBC Sinhala Facebook page, the success of the transplant surgery went viral with many people commenting on the fact that these procedures should happen in Sri Lanka so that people do not have to spend millions and go abroad if the need arises.

  • The Moratuwa University dog slaughter

One social media news that sparked outrage among almost all who read it was the news of the dog slaughter on the Moratuwa University grounds. This particular post with over 491 shares speaks of how the dogs and cats were killed and buried. It also speaks of the fact that the animals had defecated and threw up on themselves in fear and pain during the slaughter process. A lot of civilians had started commenting on the various posts published on the official page of Minister Faiszer Musthapha at https://www.facebook.com/FaiszerMusthapha.lk/ asking how his tagline “humane leadership” is valid anymore and how he can sit in silence while such unfair slaughter is going on. The minister seems to not have provided a response as such, yet.

This Week’s International Hubbub

  • Drone footage captures the moment a whale appears to play with a pod of dolphins off the coast of Western Australia

With all the division and negative news that is usually heard on almost a daily basis among the world’s human population, this drone footage of a whale that surfaced to play around with a pod of dolphins off the coast of West Australia gave everyone something to smile about. The video quickly went viral on Facebook for all the right reasons. This would not be the first time that Kingdom Animalia has set us all a very good example of how we should live life.

  • A group of Twitter users blocked by President Trump files a lawsuit against him

A certain First Amendment group of seven critics who had been blocked by President Donald Trump on Twitter has filed a lawsuit against him. The argument of the Knight First Amendment Institute is as follows; “The president’s Twitter is a public forum, and Trump is squashing his critics’ free speech rights by blocking them on the basis of their political views.There is no legal or constitutional precedent for a commander-in-chief who uses Twitter as a freewheeling venue to escalate feuds and block those who disagree with or mock him.”

 

  • Shell Malaysia withdraws  “Shells Gadis Air Mineral” advertisement after back-lash comments from public.

Many people who went to pump petrol in Malaysia have complained of the fact that the cut out positioned discreetly advertising the Shells Gadis Air Mineral product startled them and gave them “nightmares”. The company quickly apologized with a “sorry if I shocked you” poster. However, it did appear that many people felt bad when this action was taken and said that they would “miss the lady in the cut out”. Gladis Air Mineral is however set to make another appearance according to reports. Perhaps, if the original advert was positioned correctly, the company could have averted the mishap. The post was viral on the Oh!Media Facebook page with over 14k reactions.

Stats of the Week

Shaa FM is one of the leading radio stations in Sri Lanka. Given that they are a medium of communication it is surprising that YouTube has not been employed very well into their promotions and strategy to reach a wider audience. Their Facebook page however is maintained and ranks among the top five fastest growing media Facebook pages in Sri Lanka.

Shaa FM YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:

Total Subscribers -2,150
Total Videos -48
Total views -49,968

shaa FM sri lanka weekly social media news updates

We commented many times before on the unhealthy connection between the Facebook pages and YouTube channels of prominent political leaders in Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is no exception to this social media mismanagement. With all the criticism that is been leveled towards the current government, using YouTube as a forum to reach and appeal to audiences and perhaps clarify what the government is aiming to achieve in a more cohesive perspective cannot be overlooked.

Ranil Wickramasinghe YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:

Total Subscribers -166
Total Videos -68
Total views -32,452

Ranil Sri Lanka weekly social media news updates

Things you should know

  • “This new Facebook Messenger update is going to make chatting to your pals REALLY irritating”

Even though adverts are an inevitable part of social media, nobody really likes them. Facebook is now experimenting with pop-up ads on the messenger homepage where all conversations can be seen in a list. Only time will tell if this would turn out to be a success or a failure. However, with other messaging apps in the competition, Facebook might be at risk of losing its messenger users if the adverts start to become irritating.

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