Sri Lanka Social Media Weekly News Update

Sri Lanka Weekly Social Media News Update 24/04/2017

Read our latest weekly update of what’s trending on social media in Sri Lanka and across the world

This week our team wrote about:

Our Blogs

 

  • Basic Internet Security :  A look at how you can keep online information safe and avoid the radar of hackers and various other entities that might be mining it.

 

What Went Viral in Sri Lanka?

  • The Meethotamulla waste dump disaster

The Meethotamulla waste dump collapsed recently destroying the lives of 246 families approximately who were unfortunate enough to live near enough. Among the 32 dead bodies found were those of children as well while the search still continues for those who have been classified as missing. The government received a massive backlash from the public as they directly blamed the officials for not having taken action with regards to this massive waste dump and having gotten rid of it in a timely manner. The images of Ranil Wickramasinghe walking among those displaced and the site of the disaster wearing a mask also went viral with many criticising the action. The #Meethotamulla has been trending on Twitter since the incident. 

This Week’s International Hubub

  • Kiss a Kia

The Kiss a Kia competition that happened in Austin, Tx, United States grabbed the attention of many on social media for the unique nature of their campaign. The competition is that you are required kiss a Kia for as long as possible, and hopefully, you will be the last man/woman standing. The individual who manages to “out-kiss” the others takes a brand new Kia home! A Sri Lankan lady was the ultimate winner of the competition.

  • America deploys its largest bomb to Afghanistan

The MOAB or “Mother of all Bombs” that was unleashed on ISIS fighters hiding in tunnels in Achin of Afghanistan, last Thursday did not really hit the ground. However, the immense air crunch that occurred could have wiped out anybody who was within its limits. It also is speculated that this sends a very clear indication of the fact that the Trump administration is willing to use unprecedented force.

  • Fast and Furious 8 theme song recording session released

The theme song recording session of the 08th instalment of the Fand and Furious franchise has been released and has been met with much enthusiasm from fans around the world.

  • Go back to India’, woman abuses Asians on an Irish train

A video of an Irish woman telling Asians on a train to “go back to India” has been viral for the past few days. Surprisingly though, many Indian who commented on the same, stated that this sort of racism and discrimination is not uncommon among Indians who live in India as well. Instead of an angry approach to the issue, many comments stated that India is a country where caste, colour, name, religion and physical appearance plays a huge role in the lives of the young and the old on a daily basis and under such circumstances, how or why should they take action against a foreigner, who has done something similar.

Stats of the Week

Newsfirst.lk weekly social media news update NewsFirst.lk ranked as the fastest growing media Facebook page in Sri Lanka. The Youtube channel statistics for the same, were as follows: Total Subscribers -86 988

Total Subscribers -86 988
Total Videos -164 150
Total views -91 850 385

It was interesting to note that Newsfirst.lk cross-promotes on social media. That is, the videos which are uploaded on their Facebook page are also promoted across Youtube. This method of increasing viewers is a well known social media strategy that helps build the fan base of a page and create more awareness.

Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket, which is the government body for the sport, ranked as the fastest growing sports related Facebook page in Sri Lanka. Their Youtube channel statistics are as follows:

Total Subscribers – 882

Total Videos – 22
Total views – 801 068

Even though the subscribers on Youtube are not a large number, it is crucial to note that no other sport receives the same amount of exposure on social media as cricket. Many other sports in Sri Lanka do not have any social media pages or Youtube channels via which they could easily build and connect to a large audience. In the recent years, Sri Lanka has seen a marked increase in the usage of social media and as such, some of our sports which seem to always remain obscure could easily be given more awareness and recognition if the authorities are able to give them the right exposure.

Things you should know

 

  • Facebook Announced a Host of Analytics Updates at F8

 

Facebook announced several analytics updates at the F8 conference that was held on Tuesday. Amit Finkelstein stated in his blog the various changes that have been made.

  • Additional Facebook page interactions like Reactions and shares to omnichannel analytics for websites, applications, bots and services.
  • Beta automated insights that involve advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence.
  • Beta custom dashboards that will give brands and agencies more flexibility over the data that they are able to view
  • Ability to create event source groups directly through the dashboard
  • Ability to create custom audiences based on user’s behaviour.
  • Extended support for user properties

 

 

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