#Songbird Stories: The Rest from the #Nest of #SocialMedia

Huzzah! We've finally reached the end of the most depressing months in the calendar, it's cold, dismal and nobody has any money. It's been an interesting month for social media news, as all the big hitters have settling into the 2016 mentality. After the turbulent last few months of 2015, things have settled a bit, but there's still plenty to discuss, so here are all the things that we missed during the week.

Mark Ruffalo Lost his Phone, Twitter Found it

Thank Amenaide and Catherine Brown for finding my Phone and wallet! Thanks Brown family for your decency. pic.twitter.com/CJfcZz5gfj

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 23, 2016

Last weekend, Storm Jonas blasted through the North East United States, caking a huge portion of it with heavy snow. Nobody was safe, not even The Hulk. Mark Ruffalo braved the New York weather for whatever reason, and misplaced his phone in the process. He quickly put an appeal out on Twitter to track it down, and within half an hour two young girls - Amenaide and Catherine Brown, had found it, prompting Ruffalo to head over to their family home to pick it up. The whole thing was utterly adorable.

Google Play Removes Google+ Account Requirement

theunlockr.com

Ah Google+, how your death knell continues to resonate through the web-waves. While Google still haven't announced any plans to kill the ill-fated social network off proper, they've removed one of the most essential reasons to bother with an account - using the Google Play store. As well as cutting down on permission requests, the removal makes the sign in/out process infinitely more convenient. Google+ now has virtually no applications left to anchor it, so expect a mass user exodus over the next few months as more people twig. 

David Bowie's Son, Duncan Jones, Returns to Twitter

Hi all. Just wanted to thank you for the incredibly kind words & thoughts. I'll be easing my way back into Twitter- pic.twitter.com/n0ytOiESWb

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 23, 2016

After being the one to confirm the passing of his father on Twitter, film director Duncan Jones wisely elected to take a break from the platform so that he could be with his family and cope with the grief. He received a great deal of support following the news, and has now returned. He then did what all mourning sons do when they return to Twitter - talk about World of Warcraft. After thanking his followers for their support, he got the ball rolling on a wide discussion about the game's mechanics, clearly recognising that getting bogged down in more discussion about his father probably wasn't the healthiest thing to be doing.

The Battle of the Century - Wendy's vs. Burger King

Twitter

It always astounds me just how many different famous people and companies get into Twitter spats, often about seemingly inconsequential things. This time around, Wendy's got into it with Burger King over the quantity of food they offered for $4. Wendy's were happily trumpeting about their '4 for $4' meal deal, when Burger King, without any provocation, reminded everyone that they actually offer 5 things for the same price. Everyone waited for the rebuttal, until finally one user asked Wendy's directly, and their response (which you can see above), was hiariously brutal. BK have yet to respond.

Google Glass Vanishes From Social Media

Independent

The campaign to establish Google Glass as a consumer product has long since been abandonned, but now all the promotional social media accounts for the product have been pulled. Google Glass hasn't gone anywhere, as such, but Google have started to market it to professionals and companies rather than in retail, removing the need for public social media. Still, between this and the Google+ uncoupling, their attempts to kick dirt over their old failings are pretty unsubtle at the moment.

YouTube Charity Donation is a Thing

On Tuesday, YouTube unveiled a feature which will allow uploaders to add what amounts to a 'donate button' to their vids. They work in much the same way as standard video cards for subscriptions and other related content, but instead link you to a donation window, where you can donate $5, $10, $20, or specify the amount yourself. This can be for any charity that the uploader nominates, and if you have YouTube Red, it just uses your registered bank details.

Kanye West has a Twitter Meltdown of Biblical Proportions

Bleacher Report

With only a couple of weeks until his new album, Waves, drops, Kanye has been heavily active on social media, even by his standards. Wiz Khalifa took aim at Kanye with claims that his album made reference to the KKK. Kanye's response was as hyperbolic as it was characteristically nutty. He dissed Wiz's music and  dragged his ex-wife Amber Rose into it, since Kanye had also dated her. Once she got involved as well things reached a dramatic fever pitch as Rose posted some pretty detailed information about Kanye's ass. Most people agreed that Kanye came out if it looking pretty stupid, and the meme storm attested to this.

Aldi Australia Unveil Disastrous Twitter Campaign

people mocking ALDI... ever stop to think that maybe they're just pivoting to a new weird and sexual marketing strategy? fools

— j.r. hennessy (@jrhennessy) January 29, 2016

It's astounding just how many companies still don't seem to understand how cruel the internet can be if you give it the chance, especially with regards to Twitter. Encouraging Twitter to ask questions of companies, or fill in the blanks in statements is always unwise, but this is a whole new level of stupid. The phrase in question was 'I became an Aldi lover when I tasted ____ for the first time'. Yikes. As you might expect, the response was brutal, critical, and kinda icky. So far Aldi haven't addressed the issue, presumably because they're not finished yelling at their social media manager.

J.K. Rowling Shuts Downs Glasgow MP Natalie McGarry

.@NatalieMcGarry You don't appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I'm going to help you out with the latter.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 28, 2016

Another cardinal rule of Twitter - 'Do Not Screw With J.K. Rowling'. The author has proven time and time again that her sharp wit is only matched by her ability to completely eviscerate critics by the barrel-full when she needs to. Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry evidently wasn't aware of that when she waded in, accusing Rowling of supporting a misgynist troll, Rowling repeatedly asked for evidence, and McGarry repeatedly reiterated her accusation without any, before eventually backing down and apologising, tail twixt legs. What exactly she was hoping to achieve is unclear, but after the dust settled, she declared that she was done with Twitter. Excuse me while I laugh my ass off.

Drake Updates Progress on New Album with Instagram Sneakiness

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A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Jan 28, 2016 at 6:32am PST

With Kanye literally making waves for Waves and Rhianna getting her latest ready for release, it's easy to forget that Drizzy Drake also has a new album, View from the 6, on the way. He's been relatively quiet about it lately, having not even suggested a release date yet, but over the week he employed Instagram to cryptically bubble up some hype. He post a series of images of his producer, 40, captioned by nothing more than a seemingly random set of emojis. Immediately following this, he announced that he'd be hosting the next OVO Sound Apple Music radio show. Will he drop more details during the residency? I don't think there can be any doubt.

Callum Davies

Callum is a film school graduate who is now making a name for himself as a journalist and content writer. His vices include flat whites and 90s hip-hop. Follow him @CallumAtSMF

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