Scrolling in the Year: 2020 in review
A look back on what we scrolled through on our newsfeeds in 2020
As 2019 drew to a close, I spent NYE at a secluded Airbnb in Wexford with my girlfriend and our friends. The Airbnb to our surprise, ended up being owner occupied (one where the owner would be staying in the house with us). As Paul gave us the tour of his dusty auld gaf he was giving us the impression that he either wanted to be our best friends or bury us all in his back garden. What followed was an incredibly awkward drinking session in his freezing “games room” (shed). This was capped off with a NYE toast with Paul’s own homemade Poitín and a hug from the man himself during the countdown that lasted a lot longer than it should have.
Looking back on that night, it was an omen for the discomfort that was to come in 2020. Much like my time with Paul, 2020 has been an otherworldly time spent hoping for the nightmare to end. 2020 has been “unprecedented”, “like no other”, “a year to remember” and a number of other descriptors that we’re sick of hearing. 2020 for many has blurred into one long anxious waiting game, and for others has been a tragic year they’ll want to forget.
For the last two years, I’ve written a blog post that looks at the biggest stories on our social media newsfeeds each year. Looking back on both my 2018 and 2019 recaps, they both seem like they’re from an innocent, blissful time when the news wasn’t bookended by case numbers and government guidelines. A time when we worried ourselves with the now trivial issues of Trump and Brexit.
“The Before Time”
It’s hard to remember a pre-covid time, but the first two months of 2020 were actually pretty normal. We did have a threat of World War 3 between the US and Iran, Australian bushfires and an Irish Election to keep us worried in some way. On a personal note, at the start of March I finished 3rd in Dublins Next Top Comic. That meant that after two years of toiling the open mic circuit a few nights a week, I'd finally get a few paid gigs in the future. This was it… My comedy career was about to take off and nothing, I mean nothing could stop it.
Covid Arrives
In March the only thing that could possibly put the breaks on that comedy career arrived on Irish shores. That mad thing in China making them all wear masks and spray the streets with disinfectant would result in us all being sent home to work remotely for two weeks. This was so the virus wouldn’t impact the country’s health service too badly. The rest as they say, is history except we’re still living through it now. I’ve written a separate blog about my life in lockdown detailing what it was like in those initial few months but sure you know yourself…
The Year of the “Staycation”
With most people in Ireland unable to travel beyond 5km for months of the year, when lockdowns were partially lifted during the summer, 2020 became the year of the #Staycation. Social news feeds were populated with pictures of Ireland’s west coast, sunny south east and other places we’d not considered when Bali was open to us. A year where putting “Costa del” before any Irish name-place in your captions was guaranteed a wealth of likes.
I wasn’t going to miss out so I spent ten days travelling along the Wild Atlantic Way from Valentia Island up to Donegal. It was honestly one of the best trips I’ve ever had. You can’t beat driving by picturesque countryside and promising to buy a second home there as soon as you can ever earn enough to get a first one.
TikTok
The Chinese App TikTok exploded in popularity during the initial months of the Pandemic. The app was the most downloaded in the world for 2020 and showed us that people turn to simple dance routines, cat videos and strange cleaning tutorials when they’re in need of an escape. Having turned 28 in 2020, I only really feel old when I spend a few minutes on TikTok and see grown ups attempting dance challenges or lip syncing lines from TV shows that I’ve never heard of.
As the app is relatively new, those who are popular on the channel have already become stars so expect to see “Tiktokkers” on your favourite reality shows in 2021. Brands will begin to flock to the platform in the coming year and it will be an exciting app to watch, even just for mesmerising videos like the below…
Activism
The growth of “Hashtag Activism” is seen by many as a lazy way to support important causes. A simple tweet of a few words or a like is considered the bare minimum in order to just appear righteous to our friends. What 2020 taught us is that people can do a lot more online than we previously thought when it comes to making real changes. One of the moments that showcased the power of social media for good was the death of George Floyd in America.
A video of Floyd being kneeled on by a Minneapolis police officer for 8 minutes and 46 seconds was posted by onlookers and went viral in May. This gained global attention for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. What followed were hashtag trends like #BlackoutTuesday but more importantly petitions, associated charity links and a greater dialogue on race relations was amplified online. It’s clear that these initiatives have helped and will continue to help impact new laws, media portrayals and attitudes about race.
In Ireland, pages like the Black and Irish Instagram account gave us fascinating insights from black and mixed race Irish people on their experiences growing up here. It has also shone a greater light on controversial systems like Direct Provision.
Other examples of how activism fuelled by social media led to real change in 2020 were Marcus Rashford’s free school dinners campaign in the UK and the introduction of “Coco’s law” against online revenge porn in Ireland after a petition was shared on Twitter.
Trump
Having been a key figure in my previous yearly reviews, only a pandemic could grab more headlines than “The Donald” in 2020. Having put the world through 4 years of his Presidency, Trump would again run for President in 2020. This time he would be up against the 79 year old Democrat - Joe Biden. Despite winning more votes this time than in his last election, Trump would finish second to Biden and in true “Trumpian” fashion would call the whole thing a scam.
As his presidency ends, there’s hope for many that America can become a less divided place. In years to come we may even from the comfort of hindsight watch videos like the below and almost miss his cartoonish ways…
Vaccine arrives
As Trump makes his exit in 2021, we can only hope that Coronavirus’ grip on the world will start to lessen too. With case numbers spiking again and news of “second strains” it is genuinely hard to be positive about the whole thing. Having spent the majority of 2020 indoors and abiding by various guidelines in order to make the difference, it’s hard to know that things look now to be only getting worse.
The launch of many vaccines has given us all some hope of normality returning again. Despite what the social media conspiracy theorists tell you about them, I’ll be first in the queue when they come my way. If even just to visit Bali! Here’s to a happy and more importantly healthy 2021!
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.