The Social Short 2020: Week 22

Music Industry To Unite For ‘Black Out Tuesday’

On Sunday, American cities saw further unrest as protesters marched against police brutality for the sixth consecutive day. The worldwide movement started in Minneapolis on May 25th, after a video went viral showing a police officer killing an unarmed 46-year-old African American man named George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes.

Demonstrations raged across the country reaching 75 cities in the US, where protesters were met with aggressive police tactics and ‘excessive force’, as flagged by Amnesty International.

“The protests are not necessarily about Floyd’s killing in particular, but about the savagery and carnage that his death represents: The nearly unchecked ability of the state to act with impunity in the oppression of black bodies and the taking of black life,” says Blow, opinion columnist for the New York Times.

People in cities around the world, athletes, pop stars and world leaders, have expressed their solidarity on social media, through peaceful marches, signing petitions and supporting black-owned businesses. Major music labels and artists have pledged to cease business activity on ‘Black Out Tuesday’ while promoting the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused to ‘provoke accountability’ in the wake of George Floyd death.

 

 

(Image creds: Dallas Morning News)

 

Astronauts Dock With Space Station After Historic SpaceX Launch

After successfully taking off on May 30th from Florida, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Capsule made history when it docked with the International Space Station, bringing the company’s first crew to the orbiting outpost. Their arrival marks another major milestone for Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the first privately owned company to put a human into orbit.

It also marks the first time that NASA astronauts have blasted off from American soil since the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011.

 

 

(Image creds: SpaceX)

 

Social Networks vs Donald Trump

Last Summer, Twitter, who was notorious for keeping world leaders’ comments unfiltered, created a policy tool that allows it to use ‘public interest notices’ in order to fight misinformation and contextualise content.

Last week the platform applied a label on several of the American President’s tweets surrounding the protests caused by the killing of George Floyd by the police, indicating that they were violating its rule against glorifying violence.

 

 

In retaliation, President Trump has accused social media platforms of deliberately suppressing conservative views and threatened to sign an executive order to lift the legal shield that protects social platforms against liability for user-generated content.

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg has chosen to remain neutral and to not contextualise the President’s posts about the protests. The decision stands in contrast with Twitter’s approach and has spurred outrage and criticism among Facebook employees, to whom Zuckerberg responds: “we think people need to know if the government is planning to deploy force.”

(Image creds: Twitter)

 

 

Facebook Introduces A New Live-Streaming App Called ‘Venue’

Facebook’s ‘New Product Experimentation’ team has released ‘Venue’, a new live event companion app. Its eight app so far.

As explained by Facebook:

“Despite drawing large concurrent viewership, live broadcasts are still a mostly solo viewing experience. Passionate fans are constantly seeking better ways to engage with other fans and experts around their favorite events. Venue aims to give fans an interactive second-screen experience, curated by experts and centered on the pivotal moments of their favorite events.”

 

 

Facebook is clearly looking for the next big shift before anyone else can capitalise on it, and at this rate, they just might find it.

(Image creds: SocialMediaToday)

Finally, for our previous #SocialShort, click here.

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