{"id":106560,"date":"2015-12-01T08:10:19","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T06:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/?p=106560"},"modified":"2015-12-01T08:10:19","modified_gmt":"2015-12-01T06:10:19","slug":"be-sensitive-to-abuse-learn-from-these-social-media-epic-fails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2015\/12\/01\/be-sensitive-to-abuse-learn-from-these-social-media-epic-fails\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Sensitive to Abuse: Learn From These Social Media Epic Fails"},"content":{"rendered":"

The beauty and the beast of social media lies in its constant fails. It\u2019s 16 Days of Activism and we can be sure there are many who have taken to their social media to tackle topics around rape, women, children and domestic abuse. Hiding behind a computer or cellphone makes it much easier for people to post their inner monologues, jokes and social prejudices around these topics without being sensitive to the issues at hand but on social media, you can always count on the good people logged on\u00a0to make sure a small post spirals into a viral topic that teaches sensitivity.<\/p>\n

People on social media have become effective watchdogs policing misogyny, sexism, racism and general jerk behaviour. Let\u2019s collectively learn from these\u00a0social media\u00a0fails of other\u2019s to make sure we can be sensitive to issues of rape, misogyny, child abuse and other major issues affecting women and children around the world.<\/p>

<\/div>\n

Bonang and Euphonic\u2019s Twar<\/h2>\n

Many abusive situations that happen in people\u2019s private homes often go unreported and acknowledged but when you are a celebrity like DJ Euphonik and TV personality Bonang Mathebe, keeping these events a secret is a difficult task.
\nBonang and Euphonic were once Jozi\u2019s power couple until an incident was reported to the police that Euphonic had beaten up TV star Bonang and left her with bruises. She pressed charges and later withdrew them. Earlier this year Marie Claire began a campaign for Women\u2019s month where male celebrities wore heels to \u201cwalk in the shoes of women\u201d and speak out against abuse. Euphonic was one of the chosen celebrities with other\u2019s like Gareth Cliff and Siv Ngesi. Bonang tweeted the campaign immediately adding her thoughts on the whole thing.
\nThings got a little bit sticky when the Department of Women and Children\u2019s Affairs interjected the tweets posing questions that made it seem like they were victim blaming. They attracted social media backlash together with Marie Claire for defending Euphonik. Siding with the perpetrator or victim blaming is the worst response for any governmental organisation with a mandate to protect women and children.
\n\"bonangshade-300x300\"\"Euphonik\"\"euphoniktweet-290x300\"<\/p>\n

\"Twit\"<\/p>

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The department of Women and Children decided to interject.
\n\"euphonik+1\"<\/p>\n

\"euphonik+2\"<\/p>\n

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James Franco DMs Underage Fan<\/h2>\n

Some celebrities reach a certain level of fame where they think they can get away with certain behaviour and most of them do. James Franco thought he had met his next conquest after he began chatting to her on Instagram. The 17-year-old fan asked him to show her a picture of him to prove she was talking to him. She then posted as a screengrab, ending the whole shaded affair before it went any further.<\/p>\n

\"mja1ny3eojv1lkrjguam\"<\/h2>\n

\"article-2596113-1CCD6D0300000578-510_634x870\"\"franco4f-1-web\"\"giphy
\nRobin Thicke\u2019s #AskThicke Fail<\/h2>\n

Robin Thicke had the most peculiar past two years of his life. He released a hit song with Pharrel Williams titled \u2018Blurred Lines\u2019, which topped the charts, sold millions across the world and catapulting him to superstar status. Everything was going well until pictures, stories and testimonials of Thicke\u2019s infidelities became public knowledge. His wife, actress Paula Patton eventually filed for divorce and his hit song soon received backlash after it was branded a\u00a0\u201crape anthem\u201d because of its content. Thicke together with producer and rapper Pharrel Williams were accused of plagiarism by Marvin Gaye\u2019s family and to top it all off, it ended up in court and they lost. Thicke moved on and released a new album basically begging his wife to take him back, his team decided it would be a cool idea to do a Twitter Q&A with his fans but things didn\u2019t quite work out the way they expected.<\/p>\n

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\"140701212357-hashtag-askthicke-story-top\"<\/p>\n

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\nBill Cosby Asks \u00a0Twitter To Meme Him<\/h2>\n

By now many people are well aware of Bill Cosby\u2019s rising notoriety for allegedly drugging and raping 51 women across the span of his illustrious career. During the course of this year, 51 women came forward accusing him of drugging and raping them. Some celebrities including Janice Dickinson, Catherine Mckee and Beverly Johnson are part of the group that is currently busy with the deposition against him. Cosby remained quiet as more and more women told their stories on different media platforms. He then denied the accusations when he eventually spoke. All of this is not surprising, what really baffled the world was when the 77-year-old took to his Twitter to promote his new stand-up comedy show. He asked his followers to \u201cmeme him\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"cosby-meme\"<\/p>\n

\"qfhtrwsbngriabrftbso\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n\"download\"
\nTwo major things went wrong here. Twitter users began using the hashtag #CosbyMeme probing and making memes about Cosby\u2019s allegations because he had never addressed it previously and had the audacity to think people would just focus on his show instead of what was really making headlines.<\/p>\n

\"W3iNyfz\"<\/p>\n

\"giphy<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2014-11-11-at-9-32-48-am-png\"<\/p>\n

Donald Trump Wins As Twitter Enemy Number One<\/h2>\n

Donald Trump has made himself the face of all American racism, sexism, any sort of ism you can think of, he has probably tweeted something offensive around it. When the mogul announced he was running for president a few years ago, no one took him seriously. However, it seems Trump still hungers for the ultimate taste of power and this year he came with full force, especially on social media, to be America\u2019s most hated celebrity. Trump has pissed off South Africans, Rosie O Donnel, New York City, Mexicans, women, breastfeeding mothers and many others. Take a look at some of the worst things he has tweeted.<\/p>\n

\"1076\"<\/p>\n

The scariest thing is that Trump is a presidential candidate and has drummed up all the support from racists, sexist republicans who share his opinions. He has, however, lost a lot of supporters and business because of his prejudice. After his comments that Mexicans were rapists and brought drugs to America, Macy\u2019s canceled his Trump Clothing line, NBC canceled his TV show \u2018The Apprentice\u2019, Univision, NBC dropped his Miss Universe organisation beauty pageants, even a mattress company announced it would halt production on Trump branded beds. If there\u2019s anyone in the world who needs a serious lesson on sensitivity and compassion, it would be Trump. He has set the bar quite high for jerk behaviour, here are some selected tweets.<\/p>\n

\"DONALD-TRUMP-TWEET-SOUTH-AFRICA-CRITICISM\"<\/p>\n

\"donald\"<\/p>\n

\"Trump\"<\/p>\n

\"trump-jeb-tweet\"<\/p>\n

\"donald-trump-insults-11-celebs-with-downright-mean-tweets-arianna-huffington\" \"hilary\"\"B2Hb8DQIYAEbbD0\"\"giphy<\/p>\n

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