Sometimes there’s one tweet that just chirps a little louder than the rest. This last week brought one of those tweets, and as soon as President Trump fired off a few characters alleging President Obama tapped his phones, that message drove conversation for days. That’s too bad—there were environmental issues and well-placed nuns to talk about! Alas. With so much going on, don’t feel bad if you missed some things along the way. Read on, dear friends, to find out what signals you may have missed in all the online noise this week.
What Happened: HBO did a thing on social media to announce the premiere date of the next season of Game of Thrones. It backfired.Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reportsWhat Really Happened: In an effort to create suspense over the new season of Game of Thrones, HBO hid the Season 7 premiere date in a block of ice, then melted it live (live!) on Facebook as fans waited.
Welcome to 2017, where over 100,000 people are watching a live stream of ice melting to reveal the premiere date for #GoTS7 #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/d6MmMMjRGt
— Allyson Punderland (@ReallyAlly) March 9, 2017
me: ok time to go and do something productivegot: type “FIRE” in the comments to reveal the #GoTS7 premiere dateme: pic.twitter.com/dVxvNOSXuI
— 📼 (@andivhs) March 9, 2017
113,000 people are on Facebook anxiously watching ice melt! I am one of them. We have problems. 🙈 🔥❄️ #GoTS7 #GOT #ASOIAF pic.twitter.com/gwkgCw7iba
— Amanda Diehl 😽 (@AmandaDiehl13) March 9, 2017
There was just one problem. The ice wasn’t melting that fast. Or, you know, fast in any sense whatsoever. Soon, disquiet set in.
If one distracted sailor had paid this much attention to staring at ice in 1912, Leonard DiCaprio would still be alive today. #GOTS7
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) March 9, 2017
“Let’s put the #GoT premiere date in ice & melt it with dragon fire!”-HBO Exec“Genius!”-Boardroom“THE ICE IS TOO THICK HELP!”-HBO Exec
— Josh Macuga (@JoshMacuga) March 9, 2017
It’s my father-in-law’s birthday. I just explained to him over the phone that I’m watching ice melt for work. He built his own house. #gots7
— Josh Wigler (@roundhoward) March 9, 2017
One day, we’ll all look back on this Game of Thrones ice melting disaster the way we do that time Landry Clarke killed all those people.
— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) March 9, 2017
With the feed being switched off twice midstream to try and accelerate the process off-camera, the story quickly became how disappointing and ridiculous the stunt was. Even those watching were convinced that they were rubes:
The #GOT block of ice revealed that “R+J=Emma Stone, La La Land.”
— Ryan McGee (@TVMcGee) March 9, 2017
OH MY GOD THE GAME OF THRONES ICE BLOCK MELTED AND THE MESSAGE IS “BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE”
— Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) March 9, 2017
What if the Game of Thrones ice thing melts and it’s just a picture of Rick Astley?
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) March 9, 2017
The show returns July 16, by the way. And it took more than an hour of watching paint dry ice melt for fans to find that out.The Takeaway: Still, it’s not as if this was any more boring than waiting for George R.R. Martin to finish the next Song of Ice and Fire book, let’s be honest.
What Happened: In case you’re wondering how to visualize a comparison between the Affordable Care Act and the new GOP alternative, Twitter has you covered.Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reportsWhat Really Happened: After much fanfare, the Republican Party released its proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Dubbed the American Health Care Act, it offered tax cuts for the rich and coverage cuts for everyone else, and no one seemed to like it. But how did it compare to Obamacare? Oh, Twitter was on that.
— Jackie Carbajal (@jackiecarbajal) March 7, 2017
— Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler) March 7, 2017
— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) March 7, 2017
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) March 7, 2017
— Rogue POTUS Staffer (@RoguePOTUStaff) March 7, 2017
Before too long, the comparisons had become a full-blown story, proving once again that any complex government policy can get more media attention if it’s translated into a Star Wars joke.The Takeaway: Still, it’s not as if the Affordable Care Act was perfect as it was. Maybe there’s another way to approach this meme?
Obamacare / GOP replacement / single payer pic.twitter.com/CXYLDy8hBt
— Clayton Cubitt (@claytoncubitt) March 7, 2017
What Happened: Don’t worry, those who want to see the new healthcare solution defended. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has PowerPoint on his side.Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reportsWhat Really Happened: In an attempt to sell the American Health Care Act to the public, Speaker Paul Ryan unpacked his PowerPoint skills on Thursday to try and explain the plan to people. To say that the media wasn’t impressed would be a pretty big understatement, but social media wasn’t any more forgiving:
More like Speaker of the Cool pic.twitter.com/dlFEF3F9XQ
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) March 9, 2017
Paul Ryan is also using a 4:3 PowerPoint deck on a 16:9 screen with a bunch of fake graphs. I’m convinced.
— Ryan O’Horo ⁉️ (@redteamwrangler) March 9, 2017
So…when do the Paul Ryan PowerPoint presentation photoshops start coming in? Because I’m sitting here waiting, and I don’t see any.
— Matt (@TheOnlyMattBuek) March 9, 2017
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 9, 2017
— Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) March 9, 2017
“And while the software library is somewhat limited, the new Zelda alone makes Nintendo Switch a must-have. Mom, dad, thanks for listening” pic.twitter.com/ShqslZRPsX
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 9, 2017
— Anthony De Rosa 🗽 (@Anthony) March 9, 2017
Yes, this definitely seemed to go over well and not backfire at all, especially when the dragging got noticed by the media.The Takeaway: Maybe Ryan should’ve used Keynote?
What Happened: If there’s one thing the world knows about President Trump, it’s how much he respects women.Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reportsWhat Really Happened: This past Wednesday was International Women’s Day, the annual celebration of the achievements of women worldwide. As is traditional on such days, the President of the United States released a statement in support; Donald Trump, naturally, released his via Twitter.
I have tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
Yeah, Twitter had some thoughts about that.
Even in trying praise them, Trump talks about women like they’re some niche contributors who do certain important things to help “us”.
— Tom the Dancing Bug (@RubenBolling) March 8, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump A true beacon of respect for women. https://t.co/Yxg4kJCR2s pic.twitter.com/WhQz4g67z4
— Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) March 8, 2017
Especially Ted Cruz’s wife, women you bragged about assaulting & accusers you said were too ugly to sexually harass. https://t.co/uO7Cuon2vl
— Jensen Karp (@JensenClan88) March 8, 2017
It wasn’t just Twitter, of course; the media proved to be equally cynical about his claim.The Takeaway: You wanna take this one, Luke Skywalker?
I’m sure this tweet “grabbed” their respect @realDonaldTrump. #TheyLetYouDoItIfYoureACelebrity https://t.co/2x6n8bcnL1
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 8, 2017