#LondonhasRisen

Last week London voted in a new Mayor, congratulations Sadiq Khan!Following the democratic decision, a section of the electorate took to twitter with the hashtag #LondonHasFallen listing negative and racist views of what London was doomed to become under this new leadership. Not happy with what was being portrayed on social media, thousands of optimistic Londoners and social media users took a different stance and #LondonHasRisen started to trend on Twitter. The hashtag shared a counter argument with the aim to shut down the negative narrative and question the fear of electing London’s first Muslim Mayor. The hashtag brought to light how proud we are as a community and what it means to live in such a multicultural city where ideas, cultures and people mix.

Police dancing on the beat

Trainee police officers all over the world have put down their warrant cards and brushed up their dance moves for two minutes in the #runningmanchallenge. The hashtag was originally started in New Zealand as part of a recruitment drive and has now become a worldwide phenomenon. The challenge has gone viral with trainee police from Australia to North Wales and the Met in London all showing off their dance moves, with groups of police officers (ranging from 12 members to over 60) performing their renditions of the classic ‘80s move, the running man. Forces across the world are uploading their versions of the challenge which include toy police cars, smoke machines, pretend burglars and even a joey! This fun video trend is a great way to show a different side to the hard working police forces around the world.

Facebook reactions

With Mother’s Day recognised last weekend in more than 80 countries across the world, Facebook introduced a temporary ‘flower reaction’ for those who forgot to send their mother a bouquet on the special day. The flower was the first temporary reaction Facebook has introduced since expanding the ‘like’ option to give users a choice of emoji reactions to posts and comments including: ‘love’, ‘haha’, ‘wow’, ‘sad’ and ‘angry’. Although we have all seen the new emoji reactions popping up on Facebook feeds, a recent study found that only 2.4 per cent of Facebook users actually use the new reactions, with the ‘love’ reaction the most popular out of the five new options.

Insta-makeover

Instagram has revealed a new look for the first time since its launch five years ago, with a simplified logo and updated app design. According to an announcement on the brand’s official feed, the updated app design puts more focus on the content reflecting how vibrant and diverse storytelling has become through the Instagram community’s 90 million photos and videos which are uploaded every day. This branding has also been rolled out on other creative platforms linked to the brand including Layout, Boomerang and Hyperlapse.