Here’s our latest weekly review of the viral news topics on social media in Sri Lank and across the world for the last week.
This week our team wrote about;
Went Viral in Sri Lanka?
- Anti-SAITM rally and bomb threats
This video of vehicles that took part in the recently held anti-SAITM being checked by the STF due to orders from Minister Rajitha Senarathne who feared that they may be carrying bombs went viral on Facebook.
- Ranjan Ramanayake’s statement
Ranjan Ramanayake’s statement about corruption, double standards when treating normal prisoners and those with connections went viral on the Facebook page Ada. Many of the viewers mentioned on their comments that the party he is a member of too, has all these implications and that there is really no point in him making statements while the root of corruption arises from among the ranks of the government itself.
- Monks collect money to pay fines of Lalith Weerathunga
Lalith Weerathunga was arrested after being accused of scams that had to do with funds allocated for Sil redi or the clothing that is worn during the times of observing sil. Over 100 monks from different areas of the island took part in a procession where they were asking for alms in the form of monetary aid to pay the fines of this individual. The public seem displeased at this move by the clergy from their comments.
This Week’s International Hubbub
- North Korea fires a missile over Japan
The apparent launching from PyongYang in North Korea over Japan, has made the headlines both on and off social media last week. The view of the majority of the public, if the comments are to be taken into consideration only, is towards the provocation by Trump since he took office, that has led to these steps being taken by North Korea.
- The explosion at the Parson’s Green London Underground train station
The explosion that happened on the London Underground at the train station of Parson’s Green where a bomb exploded injuring many and causing serious pandemonium as hundreds of terrified commuters broke out screaming and trying to get to the exits. Theresa May is due to hold a meeting with the COBRA council in wake of this attack. The video describing the event went viral on Facebook where it was shared by the CBS news page.
Stats of the Week
The Facebook page of WhatsUpColombo.lk ranked among the top five fastest growing entertainment pages last week, while their YouTube channel is rather lacking in comparison. These findings are consistent with the apparent lack of YouTube usage by politicians in Sri Lanka that we wrote about before.
WhatsUpColombo.lk YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:
Total Subscribers -32
Total Videos -15
Total views -10,072
Udaya Prabath Gammanpila’s Facebook page ranked among the top five fastest growing society pages while once again, there is a rather poor relationship with YouTube.
Udaya Gammanpila YouTube Channel statistics are as follows:
Total Subscribers -56
Total Videos -144
Total views -11,182
Things you should know
- A new “snooze” button on Facebook lets users temporarily mute a friend, page, or group
We don’t always get exactly what we want to see on our Facebook newsfeed. As a solution to this problem, Facebook is testing out a new feature that will allow users to snooze o mute a friend, page, group of the likes on the network from 24 hours to anywhere around a month.