Twitter Trends of the Week, Vol 95

By Hannah Clark

Social

There are over 300 million tweets sent from around the world every day. Because Twitter has become such a major source for global news and conversations, we pull weekly Twitter trends to discover what the world is talking about. Here are some of the highlights:

Top Twitter Trend of the Week: Between Two Ferns with President Obama

You may have seen Zach Galifianakis interview the likes of Bruce Willis, Natalie Portman or Ben Stiller on his satirical web-only talk show. This week however, Zach got to sit down and talk shop with President Obama. The 6 and a half minute interview showed the President of the United States throwing insults at Galifianakis, who dished them straight back. As funny as the video was, it was also pretty awkward at times: “What is it like to be the last black president?” Asked Galifianakis at one point. “Seriously?” Obama responded, “What is it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?”

Between the insults, the Obama Administration saw this as an awesome opportunity to get in touch with younger voters and took the time to plug the The Affordable Care act, and healthcare.gov. The Between Two Ferns video saw more than 3 million views in under six hours, and those of us on Twitter wanted to get in on the conversation. Whether it was to talk about our favorite lines (or insults) or voice our opinion on the shameless healthcare.gov plug, you know Twitter is going to have at least a couple jokes about this awkward chat.

SXSW

Are you into music, film and tech? Well SXSW might be the conference for you. The annual interactive festival (held in Austin) began in 1987 and has become a type of launching pad for new creative content. Brand new media presentations, music and film screenings provide awesome buzz for these industries, as people from all over the world flock to Austin each March. This year’s festival was proving no different- until a driver evading police drove straight into a crowd outside a nightclub, killing two people and injuring nearly two dozen others.

We all know how Twitter works magic to spread news such as this, and that is exactly what happened on Thursday night. Those at the scene quickly got on their phones and Tweeted the news, as well as asked for help from anyone with medical experience. For those of us that couldn’t make it to Austin, all we could do was watch horrific Tweets of the scene invade our feeds and send our own messages of sadness and hope.

Buildings Collapse in NYC

Rubble still sits where two New York City apartment buildings used to stand after a water main collapsed onto a gas line, causing an explosion that has killed 8 people on Wednesday.  As rescuers still search for those missing in the explosion, many take to social media networks like Twitter and Facebook to talk about the incident and post memories of those killed. NY Daily News reported that “The building came down with such force it shattered windows a block away and registered on the seismic scale at Columbia University, which measures earthquake activity in and around New York City.”

Malaysia Airlines

So this is what has happened so far: first, Malaysia Airlines lost contact with Flight 370 on March 8th. Shortly thereafter, authorities found that two passengers were travelling on stolen passports and reports of debris stared coming in. The international search began on Monday the 10th, with more than 30 aircraft and 40 ships combing the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam. By Wednesday the 12th, the search area for the missing place was extended to 27,000 square miles, and reports that the plane had changed directions before disappearing came in. Now, nearly a week after the plane first disappeared we are finding out that the last plot on the military radar’s tracking suggests that Flight 370 was on it’s way towards India’s Andaman Islands.

This roller coaster of events has given people a lot to talk about on Twitter. Twitter users have been sharing news as they see it, sharing photos as they come in, and sharing the same messages of hope that the flight will be found.

Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson

If you’re on Twitter, you already know that Neil deGrasse Tyson is bringing science back into the spotlight. His reboot of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos is expected to be seen by more than 40 million people (according to Nielson numbers), proving his point that science is pretty cool. “If I were forced to wear the shoes of Carl Sagan, I think I would fail at that, because he’s Carl Sagan, and I’m not Carl Sagan. But I can be a really awesome version of myself,” Tyson told the Christian Science Monitor. “I can be myself exactly. And that’s already sort of a tested entity, so I feel very comfortable in this role.”

The Twittersphere loved chatting about the redone miniseries: whether it was pointing out discrepancies (of course some Twitterers are going to try to troll) or just talking about how much it sparked creativity and imagination; the series was sure to get people thinking out of this world. Twitter users also thought it was interesting that television providers in Oklahoma City decided to cut out the references to evolution. Can’t get anything past us Twitterers…

True Detective

No spoilers, I promise (for my own sake too). Last weekend was the season finale of HBO’s weekly series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. After watching the previous six episodes, HBO had us ready for almost anything. It’s no surprise that HBO GO literally shut down after a massive number of viewers jumped on the site to stream the finale live. Twitterers had opinions all across the board: some were blown away by the finale, others were disappointed. What did you think of the finale? Let us know in the comments below.

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