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HomeApple News & RumorsGoodbye, 2021: here are the 10 most absurd shitstorms of the year

Goodbye, 2021: here are the 10 most absurd shitstorms of the year

Controversy on the web, public humiliation, shitstorm: indignashow is a popular form of Internet entertainment that has kept us company throughout the year. The trend consolidated in Italy around 2017; until then, flame and dissing took place within delimited communities and rarely came out “outside the bubble”, except if they were not particularly sensational cases and with the traditional media to highlight them (for example, the Barilla case of 2015). Today, however, of "indignashow" there is at least one a day, with accounts such as Daily Drama or the trash accounts on Instagram that keep track of it, a guide style for TV schedules.

Not all of them have the same resonance, it depends on a combination of factors : notoriety of the subjects involved and how much they polarize, influencers with very large fanbases that highlight them, amplification of traditional media but above all, the way in which the triggers are welded together. until you generate the perfect outrageous content, packaged in the form of a short video or screenshot. Below is the list of the 10 most absurd and commented social controversies (excluding those strictly political or linked to the pandemic). If you had them removed, or if they look like they happened years ago, that's normal – one of the algorithm's many unanticipated effects on our brains.

10 – Cynical Beautician VS Michele Masner
The shitstorm took place mostly between Twitter and the Instagram accounts of the respective protagonists, the digital entrepreneur Cristina Fogazzi also known as Cynical Beautician , veteran of the genre, and the author Adelphi and journalist of the sheet Michele Masneri . Cynical beautician knows that there are controversies to catch on the fly: "this is how you earn ten thousand new followers", declared in the book by Guia Soncini, "The era of susceptibility". The ingredients are: high culture versus low culture, influencer versus journalist, stories versus print media. Masneri writes about it in a long editorial , Estetista Cinica relaunches on Instagram, comparing the views of his stories with the number of readers of the Sheet: that kind of comparison that makes no sense because it is made between different metrics, but excellent for fueling the drama .

9 – Rolexgate with Roman Pastore
Rolex is among the brand-triggers par excellence, in fact over the years it appears in more than one shitstorm (and it is very likely that we will find it again in the future), usually in association with the accusation against someone of being radical chic . In general, it is the whole "fashion" category that has a high triggering potential, as it is highly symbolic and highly misunderstood. The watch on Roman Pastore's wrist was also from another brand but if social media wants to get indignant, nothing will stop them. Matteo Renzi is also involved, who is among the politicians who guarantee the scientific success of an indignashow.

8 – Imen Jane in Sicily
Shitstorm in pure chaotic evil style, which started directly from the stories of Imen Jane and her friend Francesca Mapelli , against an unsuspecting Palermitan saleswoman, reproached for not knowing the history of the shop. When the real world collides with that of influencers, things always take a surreal turn that is hard to resist. In addition, Imen Jane is involved: pure Internet talent, excellent in the part of the expert graduate without ever having graduated, which is why you never know whether to be indignant or look at her with confused admiration. The bleeding of followers from his Instagram profile, however, does not stop; nevertheless, a few months ago she returned to post in style: participation in a TEDx at Luiss, participation in long red for the Prima alla Scala. Both social media are forgetful and the followers will sooner or later return.

7 – Match of the Heart Gate
Another shitstorm that has an influencer as its protagonist, in this case Aurora Leone of The Jackal, who always in her stories denounced having been "kicked out of the Match of the Heart because she was a woman ". The general director of the National Singers denies but resigns, then sues the influencer. Online is the usual cascade of comments and reactions to other reactions, on facts that no one has really understood how they took place. But again: shitstorms always bring further popularity to influencers, especially when they lash out at something with a certain degree of notoriety and on audiences that otherwise they would not be able to reach (such as, for example, the general audience following a prime time on Raiuno. ). For those who work in the entertainment world, being ignored is a much bigger problem; cancel culture works above all with normal users, who have no entourage behind them with which to decide which communication strategies to undertake.

6 – Renatino case
It is part of the shitstorm trend that has food and / or food brands as its central theme. They are quite recurrent and particularly intense: the "carbonara recipe" in this sense has made the academy. Here the "food" trigger is welded to the cause of "exploited workers" (of which the Renatino who appears in the commercial becomes a symbol), users who accuse advertisers of epic fail and usually ask for their dismissal (but do not was it about workers' rights?) and the name of a famous director: the ingredients for an online indignation according to tradition.

5 – “Detto Fatto” Gate
At the end of 2020, but it is a textbook example of shitstorm where the casus belli is the female body, against a stereotypical and sexist vision of women but then the women involved are the ones targeted. Emily Angelillo, the dancer and pole dancer who performs in the video fragment that then went viral, and the host of the "Detto Fatto" program Bianca Guaccero, were subjected to a real public pillory , which is usually justified by those who he takes part in it with the adage "if they are looking for it". The program was effectively suspended: trigger removed, trauma removed. Then it came back on the air with the new television season, giving new ideas to the debate "but does this cancel culture exist or not?".

4 – La Molisana case
Shitstorm which inaugurated 2021 and which has had a lot of resonance, also because it coincides with the Christmas period. It is no coincidence that they occur close to holidays, bridges and weekends: the free time available plays a role in the user's predisposition to participate in the indignashow. If we had a database that crosses shitstorm and weather maybe we could find that they happen on very rainy days. As in the Renatino case, food and a popular brand are involved here too; the cause, however, is not that against the exploitation of workers but the fight against fascism. Specifically, the use of the adjective "littorio" used to describe the flavor of "Abissine rigate" was not appreciated. Probably, there are still people out there who believe that fascism uses new and unusual propaganda tools such as the back of a packet of pasta. Most eventually agreed that, indeed, the pasta factory "La Molisana" was not malicious, diverting the indignation with a request for dismissal towards the entire marketing department, guilty of epic fail. To try to make people understand the illogicality of shitstorms when users are under the effect of triggers is completely useless, which is why brands would do better to apologize not immediately but a few weeks later and without going into too much detail: "sorry if we have triggered you but it was not our intention ”.

3 – The Gleaner of Sapri
Classic example of shitstorm where the casus belli is the female body, against a stereotypical and sexist vision of the woman (does it remind you of anything?), Except that in this case the woman in question is a statue. Statues which in turn, being highly symbolic and therefore misunderstood, as well as shaped according to the artist's taste, offer a perfect layer on which to baste a social (and social) drama lasting 48 hours. One last consideration to make: the ass triggera.

2 – Barbero "No green pass" + "Foibe" + "Structural differences"
Alessandro Barbero is part of that category of characters who, unbeknownst to them, are elected heroes by social media as well as material for successful memes. A category in which, for example, Orietta Berti and Alberto Angela also fall: they are capable of generating an impressive amount of engagement with an exquisitely positive sentiment. But whoever polarizes positively will also polarize negatively. You just need to find the right combination, the right time, the video fragment or statement relaunched by someone with enough followers, which invites indignation. In “ Barbero and the structural differences ”, “ Barbero and the sinkholes ”, “ Barbero and the no to the green pass ” we understand how by changing the triggers, the result does not change.

1 – Zerocalcare and Roman times
Again: high culture against low culture, Biella against Zerocalcare , the Romans against everyone, a meme that would like to be a declaration of intent (" I don't give a shit, annamo a pijà an ice cream? ") But is denied by the the fact that for at least a week everyone remained in front of their screens to debate, get indignant, react to reactions born from other reactions on a series aired on Netflix, and therefore with a very large audience that only TV, even if in streaming , knows how to guarantee. Aesthetics of a generation that mourns itself and of the time wasted on social media debating the goodness of its cultural consumption.

Special Critics Award – Fedez al Concertone
Out of competition and special critics prize: Fedez at the May Day Concert is the shitstorm with the most citations and engagement of the year. Fedez's tweet on the subject is the one that received the most likes and RT in Italy, as well as the video he posted on Instagram immediately reached 15 million views. A notable hype that, however, then – as they say in the marketing slides – did not convert, that is, it did not translate into votes in Parliament, for the cause of which Fedez became ambassador, that is the Zan Ddl. Fedez's rage reaction on the phone with Rai executives, with an alleged attempt at censorship, will remain in history. We understand that hers is mission and vocation, even if she does not have a real natural talent like Chiara Ferragni's in polarizing communities. A textbook indignashow remains: fight against homophobia, Influencer against Rai, twentieth-century logic against algorithm, a stage that this time is not only virtual but also real, that is that of May Day, historically occupied by the class struggle and now by the author of "Communists with Rolex".

 

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