Songbird Stories: The Rest from the Nest of Social Media

Summer is kind of almost here, the weather is starting to pick up, streets are beginning to smell of barbecue fires and wasps are sailing through air in search of open windows to fly through, and then get trapped behind. Social media obeys no seasonal rules, apart from an uptick in overexposed shots of people sat in parks with their dogs, but other than that the wheel just keeps on grinding. It's been a weird, but eventful week in the realm of online activity, and we've certainly had plenty to report on here, but what else has been going on?

McDonald's Worker's Rant Goes Viral

"Now, if anyone here thinks I’m superficial or materialistic. Go get a job at f****** McDonald’s, because that’s where you f****** belong!" - That's a quote from The Wolf of Wall Street which neatly encapsulates Maccy D's reputation as an appalling, bottom-wrung place to work, the lowest of the low. Is it all that bad? It's difficult to say, some argue that it's actually a pretty good place to work for what it is, and Mike Waite is one such person. The Edinburgh staffer posted a long status about how proud he was to be working there, surrounded by people trying to make ends meet in order to support their greater aspirations. The post pulled in a massive amount of support and praise from across the UK and beyond.

Disney Premier The Star Wars Show on YouTube

When it was first announced that Disney had snapped up the rights to Star Wars, people were skeptical. I certainly was, but by the time The Force Awakens actually arrived, we were all believers again. The thing is though, they were doing more than developing the film which would win us all back in that time, they were drawing up plans for a complete retooling of the franchise, and The Star Wars Show is the latest salvo. 

More than just being a cheap fan morsel, the show will likely be consistently useful source of Star Wars news. The first one even features an interview with director Duncan Jones, which might not be directly Star Wars related, but neatly demonstrates how much work is being put into this.

Calvin Klein's Bizarre Instagram Ad Stirs up a Rage Storm

Take a peek: @karate_katia, photographed by @harleyweir for the Spring 2016 advertising campaign. #mycalvins

A photo posted by Calvin Klein (@calvinklein) on May 9, 2016 at 3:45pm PDT

Fashion and fragrance brands often push boundaries with their advertising, either to get attention or, well, to get attention. People will often question whether or not they realised that what they were producing was inappropriate or perceptibly offensive before they published it, and the answer is yes, they did, always. Calvin Klein are the culprits this time around, as they photographed model Klara Kristin for an ad which reads 'I flash in #mycalvins'. As you can see above, the photo is basically an upskirt shot.

People would likely have had an issue with that in and of itself, but much of the outrage stems from how young Kristin looks in the image, prompting people to accuse CK of producing an image that would appeal to paedophiles. The fact is, she's 22, and how old she looks in the picture is a matter of beholden eyes.

J.K. Rowling - Author, Icon, Tattoo Designer?

.@AlwaysJLover I love that you're working to heal and protect yourself. You deserve this. I hope it helps. pic.twitter.com/T2nDG3z2MJ

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) 11 May 2016

J.K. Rowling is an absolute boss on Twitter, we all know it. She has repeatedly and spectacularly shut down anyone who has even attempted to throw shade, and it's easy to forget that those people represent a stark minority. Mostly, she interacts with adoring fans. On Wednesday, one such fan - Kate - tweeted a note explaining that she planned to get 'Expecto Patronum' as a tattoo, and that it'd mean the world to her if it was actually in Rowling's handwriting. She also makes mention of how the Harry Potter books helped her get through a school life fraught with bullying, depression and self-harm. Rowling quickly responded, praising her attitude and making good on the request. Kate plans to get the tattoo over the area where she perviously self harmed.

More Film Industry Sexism Uncovered on 'Headless Women of Hollywood' Tumblr

Tumblr

I know, sounds gruesome right? Well, it's not quite as gory as the name suggests, but it's still utterly disgusting. It's been a pretty common trend on Twitter and Tumblr of late to uncover all the prejudices of Hollywood, and sometimes it's just as simple as putting many examples in the same place. Headless Women of Hollywood, - which only went live last month but has been posting like crazy since then - is dedicated to collecting all the movie posters which feature women, but not their heads or faces. 

Sometimes such a thing is a matter of artistic license, but often it's just a case of disturbing fetishism, and it happens literally all the time. The page was set up by stand-up comedian Marcia Belsky, who started it to highlight something which posters have been doing almost mindlessly for decades, something which really isn't okay.

#myinstagramlogo Becomes an Instagram Suggestion Box for Artists

Thanks for following @nintendomag and my personal page @rodrigo_rocco. Today instagram changed their logo and I did this post because instagram is my favorite social app. Thanks instagram team! 👍💕 #instagram #NintendoMag

A video posted by Gaming Magazine (@nintendomag) on May 11, 2016 at 11:51am PDT

On Wednesday, Instagram changed their logo. Such a thing shouldn't really be a big deal, but the Instagram logo has basically remained unchanged for as long as the platform has existed until now. People were largely pretty unhappy with the new, fluorescent logo, and some even resolved to show the platform how it should have looked. Many actually did this in support of the new look, rather than against it, but regardless of intent, the results continue to be fantastically inventive, and act as a proud demonstrate of the huge pool of talent within the Instagram community.

New Study Reveals Just How Much YouTube We've Actually Watched

We all likely spent a bit too much time on YouTube, but when you start to look at the figures the site has accumulated since it went active 11 years ago, it's staggering. YouTube don't actually disclose their figures, but a new study by Bernstein Research has revealed that, to date, we've watched approximately 196 trillion minutes of material on the site. That's 400 million years. That is, of course, divisible between millions of viewers, but even still, it's utterly insane.

Serena Williams Posts PSA Against Eating Hotel Dog Food on Snapchat

When she's not playing world class tennis, Serena Williams is a dab hand at Snapchat, to say the least. She also takes her dog everywhere with her, and in an odd twist, those two things came together. While staying at a hotel somewhere in Europe, Williams noticed that the hotel had a separate food menu for dogs, with surprisingly expensive meals that looked almost exactly like human food, packaged in the same to-go boxes, with silverware included and everything.

So, she tasted some. All of this is relayed in Snapchat stories, and Williams explains that the food made her extremely ill, and tasted hideous. She warns future patrons to avoid making the same mistake, and notes that the hotel should post some sort of warning against this.

Canadian Waitress Shares Image of Her Bleeding Feet on Facebook to Make a Point

Daily Mail

Long before I was swept up into the maelstrom of digital content writing, I was a waiter. It's an interesting, sometimes rewarding line of work, but boy oh boy does it screw your feet up. You rarely get the chance to sit down, and spend most of your shifts patrolling back and forth between the kitchen and the tables, and after 6 or 7 hours of that, the aching takes a heavy tole. I usually wore fairly comfortable black shoes when I did it, but in some establishments, waitresses are made to wear heels, which is something that should probably be reviewed by the Geneva Convention.

Last week, Nicola Gavins posted an image of her friend's feet, covered in blood. Why? Because her employers at the JOEY restaurant in Edmonton had refused to let her take them off during a long shift, despite her complaints of being in pain. She was also told she'd have to wear them again the next day. The post has been shared so many times that now a boycott of the restaurant is underway. Hopefully it will open up a wider conversation about this sexist, abusive policy.

Azealia Banks Has Her Twitter Account Suspended in the Wake of Her Zayn Malik Attack

Damn Zayn be mood boarding the fuck of out me 😳.. I'm not mad about this though. Zayn is a cutie pie

A photo posted by Azealia Banks (@azealiabanks) on May 10, 2016 at 9:15am PDT

You knew this was coming. I wanted to avoid it, but it's probably the biggest celebrity/social media news story of the week, and it's horrid. It started out when the famously vitriolic Banks pointed out that one of Malik's music videos looked a lot like hers. Malik responded cryptically, but not overly aggressively. Regardless, Banks launched into by far the worst twitter rant she's ever embarked upon, hurling insult after insult at him, including frequent bouts of racism and homophobia.

The backlash was neck-breaking, prompting Banks to backtrack and attempt repeatedly to justify her statements, particularly after The Rest is Noise elected to unceremoniously dump her from her headline slot at London's Born & Bred Festival next month. Now it looks like her account might have been suspended by Twitter, and her comments are even under investigation by the UK home office. I think she might have actually gone supernova this time. Perhaps now we can all be spared from this ridiculous nonsense.

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 @Songbird_Callum

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