Web 2.0

At first glance it looks like an ordinary map. But hidden beneath the contour lines, lakes and forests is hidden an image of a nude lady that went viral over the internet with more than 2 million views. The map was posted by a social media user by the name of ‘Shinygreencloud’ on Imgur. It had also been posted on Reddit with users commenting it was a fireman from 1982.

I have just written an article on why Twitter is loosing its popularity last week and this week as if Gods wanted to prove me wrong, the hashtag "coding should be mandatory at the primary schools" was trending topic for hours.

Facing tough challenges in the forthcoming early elections, including poor media exposure and lack of funds, the opposition parties are turning to the Internet in a quest for voters.

Bojan Klacar, director of the Center for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, told BIRN that no party can avoid social media now, although television remains the most influential media.

'Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action' by Helen Margetts, Peter John, Scott Hale, & Taha Yasseri (Princeton University Press, $30, 304 pages)

Social media make people do some very weird stuff to get likes and retweets. But the latest trend on Twitter is possibly the most bizarre we’ve ever seen.

It all started by Japanese comedian Masahiro Ehara, who somehow discovered that if he squishes his baby’s face, it will look like rice balls, and started a hash tag that translates to “#RiceBallBabies.”

Instagram model Essena O’Neill surprised her million followers by announcing she was giving up her social media profile because she let herself be defined with something that wasn’t real. She said her profile promoted a “dishonest and contrived” sense of beauty. Her new online appeal invited followers of her new, all-natural and makeup free image to help her pay for her new lifestyle.

Eighty percent of minorities in Turkey say they cannot express themselves openly on social media, while 35 percent said they are subject to hate speech on the same platform, according to a recent survey conducted by a minority organization funded by the European Union. 

British celebrity blogger Mollie Bylett, aged 21, is living the fantasy life. Finishing her studies she passed up on university and embarked on her first overseas adventure… that never ends!

Supermodel Naomi Cambpell decided to participate in #FreeTheNipple move sharing a very bare still from her forthcoming Taschen two-volume book.

The hashtag #FreeTheNipple refers to the dissatisfaction among women that social networks like Facebook (and Facebook-owned Instagram) censorship of female nipples , even in posts of breastfeeding.

The City of Athens has invited eight famous travel bloggers from around Europe to blog about their own Athenian “Perfect Day”. The day will be funded by Athens with bloggers visiting the Greek capital over seven weeks in September and October.