Scrolling In The Year: 2018 In Review
A look back on the biggest news stories of 2018 and how they dominated our social media feeds
2018 has been an interesting year not just on Irish social media feeds, but on social media feeds around the world. As I work on social media every day, it’s almost impossible to miss the latest viral story, meme or video. As the year comes to a close, I thought it would be good to take a look back on some of the more memorable moments that dominated newsfeeds, timelines and group chats in the last 12 months.
This post is inspired by the Irish TV programme “Reeling In The Years”, only it won't be nearly as well put together or entertaining. I’m hoping that in the future (if there is one with the way things are going), we can look back on this year and try to explain to our kids why exactly Brexit and Cryptocurrencies ever became a thing in the first place?
Brexit
Brexit Brexit Brexit! If there’s one thing nobody has been able to escape this year it’s the “B word”. As the UK government continues to debate on how to deliver (or possibly not deliver) the referendum result from 2016, nearly all social media platforms have been saturated with mentions of it. From video debates, Twitter polls, politicians clueless soundbites and lively comment sections under everything it’s been at times fascinating but mainly just exhausting.
The beauty of social media though is that among all the talking heads and economist reports, the moments that really engaged people were the ones like that dancing queen entrance from May or the Luxembourg PM’s brilliant response to a UK reporters EU concessions question. It seems that in something as messy and drawn out as Brexit, all most of us want is some comic relief from the drudgery and social media always manages to deliver this. .
If you switch off the second you hear about Brexit, then this Brexit explainer video below from Irish children’s programme News2day will help you grasp what options could have been explored. The video went viral on Twitter with many commenting that it should be compulsory viewing for the politicians managing the process.
The Beast from the East
As the Brexit storm continued during 2018, Ireland was hit with a different kind of storm that brought its own chaos. In early March, the country was hit by a snowstorm dubbed the “Beast from the East”. Sounding like something from an episode of Father Ted, the beast actually caused a significant amount of destruction to residential and business properties in parts of Ireland and the UK. As people began to stock pile their supplies of Brennans bread and spammed our social media feeds with photos of their igloos, for those who weren’t too adversely impacted it just meant a day or two off work and a pint in your wellies down the local.
Whatsapp group chats around Ireland suddenly began to fill with what seemed like a live stream of snapchat and Instagram videos from South Dublin. In scenes reminiscent of “The Purge”, a Lidl in Tallaght was attacked and looted by a large group of people who even used a digger to tackle the supermarkets safe. This was to be the height of the Beast from the East hysteria as shortly afterwards the snow had melted and Ireland went back to normal after those few days that now seem almost like a strange dream.
The 8th Referendum
In May of this year Irish people had the chance to repeal the 8th amendment to the Irish constitution. If the amendment was repealed, Irish women would have the choice to access safe and legal abortion services in Ireland. The build up to the referendum was long with both sides heavily promoting their messages through billboards, posters, paid social media campaigns and other media forms. Social media became a very heated place in the final run up to the vote on May 25th.
Being pro choice personally, I always knew what way I would vote coming up to the day but was interested to listen closely to the views of both sides to understand peoples thoughts on what is a complex topic. The one page on social media that stood out to me at this time was the Facebook page “In her shoes”. The page has been around for years and shares the images of womens shoes accompanied by their own abortion stories to highlight those who have had to travel for the service in the past.
The diverse range of women and their different stories reaffirmed to me and no doubt countless others that women have and always will make this choice for whatever reasons and so making it available was the least that we could do. Thankfully on the 25th of May, 66% of Irish voters voted to repeal the 8th Amendment. Although the details of how the services will work are still being planned, 2019 should bring about the necessary changes.
Ireland’s Trump
The Irish public would again be asked to head to their local polling stations towards the end of 2018. This time it would be to vote for the next President of Ireland. The presidential elections in Ireland are usually pretty unexciting affairs but this year seemed to get us talking a lot more. With Trump and Brexit now being key considerations for any incumbent president, multiple candidates came forward to claim they could guide us through this time of uncertainty.
The current president Michael D Higgins, or Miggeldy Higens as he became known as in 2018, had become a bit of a pop culture icon with his own “Michael Tea Higgins” tea cosies. He was up against a number of challengers but none as controversial as Peter Casey. Casey positioned himself as being against political correctness and said that his controversial views appealed to the “average working person.” Of course this drew parallels to the messaging of American business man turned president Donald Trump and a lot of people freaked out when Casey then finished second to Miggeldy.
A quick look at his Twitter during the race gave me the idea that his whole campaign was being managed by some American PR firm and bizarre tweets like this one are the kind you have to watch three times to actually believe it’s not from a parody account…
Sport
It was a massive year for sport and millions were glued to the World Cup in Russia. England came scarily close to going all the way but were denied before France came out as eventual winners in what was a great tournament to watch. Closer to home, Limerick won the All Ireland Hurling Championship for the first time in 45 years while Dublin won their 4th Gaelic football title in the last 4 years.
Katie Taylor dominated the women’s professional boxing world while Conor McGregor came back to the Octagon in a fight that will be remembered more for the scenes following his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov than the action itself. Perhaps the highlight for many Irish sporting fans this year was the Irish Rugby team beating New Zealand in the Aviva in November. It was the way in which they dominated the All Blacks from the very beginning was what really got people excited. With Ireland now being touted by many as favourites for the World Cup in 2019, it will be the sporting event we all have our eyes on next summer.
Cryptocurrency
One technology that was tipped to be massive in 2018 were Cryptocurrencies. After a massive surge in value of Bitcoin and other digital currencies at the end of 2017, I even got caught up in the hype and bought a massive €60 worth of different coins in what was my first buy in to the investment world. The mainstream media has since gone silent on the coins with many saying that they are just going through teething issues like a lot of the most transformative technologies we’ve experienced. With that initial investment of mine now being worth just €10.67, I can’t see cryptocurrency being commonly used in 2019 either.
#RIPFernando
Every year we take to social media to pay homage to loved ones and our favourite celebrities who have passed. This year saw the passing of Stan Lee, MacMiller, Dolores O Riordan, Aretha Franklin, Anthony Bourdain and Avicci to name a few. Our own Taoiseach Leo Varadkar managed to somehow dull the blow of Avicci’s passing with one of the tweets of the year in memory of the star. Still no sign of Leo’s extended Camino playlist but I can’t imagine what else is featured!
Via: @campaignforleo
The most unusual and shocking death that gripped the nation this year was one that didn’t happen at all. Ballybrack FC made national and international headlines when they decided to fake a former players death to have their game with Arklow Town postponed.
The league and its teams had spent a weekend in collective mourning before the the truth came out to the league, the teams and the “dead” player himself. Social media went into a frenzy and #RIPFernando was trending on Twitter with people making memes and tribute songs were even penned. The club apologised and Fernando has since become a bit of a celebrity from the whole fiasco. In a year when supposed “fake news” stories were even less ridiculous than some of the real ones, this was a “fake news” story that we could all enjoy!
2018 has been a good year for me personally as I launched this website and blog in September. Since then I’ve been able to talk about my experience making memes, investigate the world of Facetune, blow the lid (somewhat) on the global social media “Ginspiracy” and raise money for Movember! If you've liked any of my posts on social media, read any of the blogs or shared them with a friend it really means a lot so thank you.
Here's to an even better 2019 where I can hopefully work on more digital marketing projects with people, publish more interesting blog posts, grow my audience and maybe even that crypto “investment”! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram in 2019.