Spin City

Tag: social media

  • Like Father, Like Daughter

    Like Father, Like Daughter

    It’s no secret that former president Barack Obama had a smoking habit. He admitted in his memoir, A Promised Land, that he would smoke 8-9 cigarettes a day during his presidency.

    Aside from smoking cigarettes, Barack Obama was considered a pot innovator back in his day, having a whole social group just for recreational uses.

    but in 2016 his older daughter, Malia Obama, was photographed smoking what appears to be a joint.

    I actually kind of remember this “scandal” being all over Twitter. Wow, a first daughter smoking pot! I feel like the Obama daughters were very private, so for a photo like that to leak, I loved it. Something about it showed a very realistic side to one of America’s first Black children. Malia Obama, who was 18 years old at the time, was not the first teen to smoke pot, and she’s definitely not the first first child known to  have a good time.  I remember the outrage, but I also remember so many tweets taking up for her, basically saying that she’s just a teen at the end of the day. Most children of public figures keep a low profile in response to leaks and scandals, but her response is one of my favorites. 

    The homemade look of the t shirt just adds this dry humorous tone to the response. I feel like she just dug up a white tee and sharpie at the White House! Another reason why I love these pictures is that she looks absolutely elated.

  • Once upon a app

    I have been using social media for a very long time; like, I remember when you could only post pictures on Instagram. That memory is an example of one of the most fascinating parts of using social media. The evolution of the social media apps. It reminds me that I’m getting older, that times are changing, and that technology is growing. I have had an X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Snapchat account for over a decade and have seen all those apps go through weird, sometimes unnecessary changes. Yes, unnecessary! Have you ever updated an app or even a device and questioned why? Who asked for this? Yeah, me too. So I actually want to highlight some memorable now-obsolete social media features.


    1. Snapchat is pretty famous for their 24-hour stories and chats being deleted immediately after you open them. Of course if there is a video, you will replay it, but did you know Snapchat used to charge for additional replays? You could get one free replay before you close the app, and then after that you could purchase 3 for $0.99, 10 for $2.99, or 20 for $4.99. Nowadays if you leave the app, you just won’t be able to replay it again.

    2. Like I mentioned before originally you could only post photos and, like, comment on Instagram. In 2013, in an obvious attempt to upstage the popular 6-second video app Vine, Instagram launched 15-second video capability. I have to be honest, they kind of did upstage Vine, and I’m saying this as a self-proclaimed Vine girlie. Because shortly after Vine went defunct, so many popular creators switched to Instagram, and that switch helped launched quite a few careers. The fifteen-second videos grew into what we have now, which are reels, which actually reminds me of TikTok.

    3. Revisiting Snapchat, which, in my personal opinion, has gone through plenty of interesting changes, but one in particular that no one ever talks about is the public best friends ranking. I feel like this is one of the messier social media features because you could see the top 3 people each friend basically Snapchats the most. They actually haven’t completely done away with this; it just has a more detailed ranking and is private.

    circa 2013
    Circa 2025

  • Fake friends or Jews?? Who knows!

    This is the most miscommunicated celebrity faux pas I have ever seen. In August 2023 Hollywood’s favorite triple threat, Jamie Foxx, made a text post on Instagram stating the following: THEY KILLED THIS DUDE NAME JESUS…

    WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY’LL DO TO YOU???!

    #fakefriends #fakelove

    I feel like it was obviously saying that if Jesus were betrayed or mistreated, it could happen to you as well. A pro-Jewish blog reposted it, claiming that it was antisemitic, I am assuming because of beliefs that Jews were responsible for Jesus’s death.

    Although she was not even mentioned in either post, critically acclaimed actress, Jennifer Aniston‘s Instagram handle is shown liking the original post.

    She posted a response…

    Then Jamie Foxx issues an apology…

    Let’s take a spin…

    I think Jamie Foxx actually had a decent response; I just would’ve apologized less and put emphasis on my explanation of the post! He apologized way too much. The post obviously was not about Jewish people, and Jennifer Aniston amplifying it made it worse.

    “Just to clear the air on my recent post, I was referring to being betrayed by fake friends… Sorry for any confusion.”

  • Bon appétit? Perhaps not

    No one expects a world-renowned athlete to be denied entry to a restaurant, but in 2024, tennis powerhouse Serena Williams was denied entry at the opulent French hotel rooftop The Peninsula Paris.

    She took to X, formally known as Twitter, to blast the eatery.

    “Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first. #Olympic2024,” she tweeted.

    Peninsula Paris responded with an apology.

    “Dear Mrs. Williams, Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight,” the establishment wrote in the comments.

    “Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved,” the venue continued. “We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again”

    Let’s take a spin, shall we?

    I wouldn’t have given this restaurant an ounce of publicity even if it was bad. Instead, Serena Williams could’ve posted a photo with some staff at a different restaurant to her 29 million social media followers. Maybe with a caption thanking them for their hospitality or maybe some candid paparazzi shots in front of the restaurant for a more natural approach. This way The Peninsula Paris may regret missing out on this grand opportunity for exposure.

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