- The K-pop revolution (vulture)!!!!
K guys so for this story, we are diving into something I previously knew NOTHINGGGG about: K-pop. Also known as, Korean Pop music.
And just to be clear – k-pop is a genre of music, not a specific band and they are a legitimately a GLOBAL phenomenon. Remember “whop em Gangham style”? The music video for that song held the rank of the MOST viewed Youtube video for 5 YEARS STRAIGHT according to M2M. And the Korean boyband BTS QUOTE “cranked out three albums that topped the Billboard Chart in a calendar year – the first act since the Beatles to do so.” END QUOTE. And
SO why are we talking about K-pop today? Well it turns out, Korean pop stars are having a PRETTY DIRECT influence on American politics right now. Why? Well, let’s take a look at three major situations they effected with a tweet of their twitters.
a- BLM surveillance
So the Dallas Police Department asked residents to send in videos (via an app) of violence taking place at the BLM protests. So what did they do? They asked their fans to anonymously send in BAJILLIONS of silly, irrelevant videos and basically, they crashed the system! The police department’s app was so flooded, they had to shut it down and were not able to get it back up and running during the protests.
b- Hijacking Hashtags
We know that the White Supremecist movement is in strong support of President Trump. And they use certain hashtags on Twitter to communicate. So, the K-pop stars, determined to use their powers for good, asked their fans to FLOOD those specific hashtags with unrelated content, making it difficult to find the white power content as it would get quickly buried beneath thousands if not millions of other posts.
c- The Tulsa Trump Rally
So we all know what happened at the Tulsa Trump rally. It was a no show with a half full stadium when Trump had boasted MILLIONS of ticket requests. SO we exactly requested these tickets? Well it turns out, the K-pop powers. Apparently, the teen bands asked their loyal followers to buy the tickets and trick the Trump-camp into thinking they had a sold out show. And it worked. The rally was a national embarrassment.
Conservatives are still scratching their heads over this as Fox new referred to QUOTE “fans of the group K-pop” END QUOTE suggesting that it is one band rather than what it is: a global phenomenon with millions of followers on literally every continent.
2. Amy Cooper faces charges
Remember the woman with the crazy dog in Central Park who called the police on a peaceful Black bird watcher? Well, not only was she fired from her job, nationally dubbed “Central Park Karen,” and had her dog taken away and then returned by a rescue group, but now, she faces charges.
According to the New York Post, The Manhattan district attorney is charging the woman, Amy Cooper, with “False Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree.”
But the man himself, Christian Cooper, has decided NOT to cooperate with the investigation, citing that QUOTE “she’s already paid a steep price.” END QUOTE. But the case is still moving forward and she is set to be arraigned in October and could potentially face up to a year in prison for her actions.
3. Let’s talk Tiktok
SO There is a LOT of different news to discuss in terms of Tiktok. But for my over 40 listeners and anyone else who might not know what the heck Tiktok IS, let’s break that down first.
Tiktok is the newest and coolest social media app to hit the masses. The app has been around for a while and was slow to gain traction but recently has sped up dramatically. For a while, people joked about it given that it was mostly teenagers using the app… But once it took off, the app proved to be more than 15 years olds dancing around. It’s really funny. Essentially, it is very short video clips, one minute or less, that you can flip through seamlessly on your phone. It may not sound revolutionary, but the type of content you’d find on there is just DIFFERENT than any other app. Their tag line is “Tiktok: Make Your Day.” And it’s true, every time I get on there, I personally will end up laughing hysterically. Deven says he can hear when I am on Tiktok because my laugh is just different. There’s also emotional content and educational content – recipes, and more.
So let’s take a look at a few different situations making headlines in regard to Tiktok.
a- So the biggest news – India has banned Tiktok. Why? Let’s get into it.
So Tiktok is an app from CHINA. And as we have covered in recent News Du Jour episodes, China and India are kind of clashing at the moment. And apparently, India is Tiktok’s TOP market. So to hit em where it hurts, they banned this app and a few others that India claims China was using to essentially spy on citizens. So Tiktok is losing aproximately 150 million downloads this year according to CNN business, due to this ban.
This ban obviously turned heads and made the United States take note. Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, told Fox News this past week that he and The President are taking a look at the company’s use of data in the United States and considering a ban here as well.
b- This is a huge bummer, as our next story is all about some great content you can find on this app. Garden Marcus, the self proclaimed “plantfluencer,” was recently featured in Vogue for QUOTE “brimming with positivity”
Essentially, Marcus Birdgewater, otherwise known as Garden Marcus advice his platform of 558 THOUSAND followers to divy out both gardening advise… and advice on life. And during this time of colossal chaos and confusion, people are EATING. IT. UP. According to the Vogue article on him, he mistakenly thought Tiktok was a calendar app for his phone when he downloaded it. He hadn’t been on social media at all beforehand. But his QUOTE “earnest optimism and toothy grin” have amassed him a large following here he dolls out life lessons like QUOTE “uprooting and relocation should be done with care” or tiktok is a QUOTE “great opportunity to show the likeness between plants as a living creature and us, human beings, as a species.” TOO COOL.
Go give him a follow if you’re on Tiktok!
c- But another way Tiktok is making headlines, and a great account to follow, is Sarah Turney’s
So Sarah Turney is using Tiktok to literally solve crime and press charges against a surprising likely perpetrator: her own father.
Yesterday, I uploaded a whole bonus episode about a true crime case so I WON’T go into much detail here but essentially – Sarah’s sister Alissa has been “missing” for about 10 years. And her father, is THE ONLY suspect law enforcement has seriously considered. Why? Because pretty much everyone knows he did it. But Sarah, is the only one left fighting for answers for her sister. She made a podcast, she got featured on tons of others, and really was working for a break in her sister’s case. But what changed the game for her? A little sense of humor on Tiktok.
Elle magazine recently featured her case in an article headlined “I’m using Tiktok to catch my sister’s killer – why Sarah Turney thinks the video app is key to solving her sister’s disappearance.”
According to the article, and what I have personally witnessed from following the case myself, is that Sarah’s following went THROUGH THE ROOF with Tiktok. And it changed the game for her. Her following on the app is over 700 THOUSAND and growing daily. Those followers turned into listeners when they tuned into her podcast and now, he podcast is ranked #4 in ALL PODCASTS ON APPLE. Damn. She is on her way to getting answers. Seeing a woman go against the odds and gain SO MUCH SUPPORT for taking down a dangerous predator, has really been inspiring.
If you like true crime and want to listen to more about this case, her podcast is called Voices for Justice and her handle on Tiktok is @SarahTurney.
And that’s the news du jour!
I want to leave you with the quote:
“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”