DON’T you find it annoying when some people admonish others on social media for being on TikTok, doing the finger heart or basically, just getting on every trend out there?
I would never get into TikTok but if someone in my age range did, then that’s not my problem. If someone I know poses for a picture with a finger heart, I’m not going to get annoyed. There are so many things in this world that are more annoying, and being uncool is not one of them.
I am not on Facebook and I doubt if I’ll ever be. I am on Instagram but, truthfully, I have a lot of accounts muted. What annoys me is not when people get into certain things but when others act like they’re taste arbiters and decide whether one person is cool or uncool. You can choose to ignore them, right? You can unfollow, mute or block people and accounts if you’re so annoyed with them.
So what is trending on social media right now aside from pictures and images of people working out, baking, hugging and playing with their pets, and showing their work-from-home and/or kids’ online learning set-ups?
Blackpink’s collaboration with singer Selena Gomez called “Ice Cream” and BTS’s first all-English song “Dynamite” are the two top trending topics on social media right now, not necessarily in that or any order. “Ice Cream” is the second prerelease single off Blackpink’s long-awaited debut album, Blackpink: The Album, which is scheduled for release on October 2 through YG Entertainment.
The first single was “How You Like That.” The album release is one of the events that will mark Blackpink’s fourth anniversary as a group.
Blackpink—composed of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé—broke its own record less than three hours after the music video premiered, hitting 10 million views after just two hours and 55 minutes, according to Korean site Soompi.
I know something is organically trending when my Instagram is filled with “Ice Cream”-related references. A beauty blogger friend posted a Jennie makeup tutorial. Non K-pop fan friends are now Blinks. People are in love with Blackpink.
By the way, Custom Mood has Blackpink’s first full-length album available for pre-order (bit.ly/2GjRGdb). Their album will include 2 of their pre-released singles “How You Like That” and their recent catchy upbeat pre-release “Ice Cream” featuring Selena Gomez.
Of course, people continue to be in love with BTS and “Dynamite”. A look through my Instagram Stories timeline shows that over 50 percent of the active accounts I follow are now BTS fans. The new ones became fans because of “Dynamite.”
Billboard said “Dynamite” entered the chart at No. 1, the highest ranking on the chart achieved by an all-Korean group. For me, the most significant statistic is that “Dynamite” now ranks higher than PSY’s “Gangnam Style”,, which peaked at No. 2 in 2012.
According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, “Dynamite” reached 33.9 million US streams and 300,000 sales on its first week ending on August 27 and gained 11.6 million radio airplay audience impressions in the week ending on August 30.
“Dynamite” had 265,000 downloads sold in its first week, with overall first-week total sales of 300,000, including vinyl and cassette versions.
On August 30, BTS performed “Dynamite” for the first time on the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and won all the awards they were nominated for, earning four trophies in total. The thing about K-pop is that, despite some of the fanwars that come with being a fan, it really makes people happy. And, yes, there are still some people who think it’s uncool to be a K-pop fan but who cares about them? My daughter had a high school friend who used to laugh at her Super Junior phone case. That friend is now a K-pop fan.
Another social media trend, by the way, is using your avatar as your profile picture on Facebook. This feature allows users to create a personalized avatar, or emoji, of themselves, which will be placed on stickers that can be shared on the Facebook platform.
On Facebook, you may have noticed a “make your avatar” button when someone else posts their new avatar. If you haven’t seen that, go to a Facebook post as if you’re going to comment on it and click on the smiley face icon, which will bring you to the emoji and stickers. Find the little purple guy with the red tongue and click on him.
You’re now ready to create your own avatar by picking from among the various options, including face shape, hair type, facial features, body type and wardrobe. Accessories are optional. When you are done, you can click the arrow next to your finished avatar to share it to your feed or make it your profile picture.