Making jokes on Twitter is extremely fun but Kelsey Weekman looks into how Film Twitter is not great at distinguishing between which stories are real and which are just entertaining. Plus, just $5 to get absolution for your Catholic guilt, which is about the same price as a stick of butter for your butter board. Don't worry, it's the best kind of cooking: ingredient assembly. Enjoy, Amber. |
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The moment a buzzy actor is cast in a new project, Film Twitter slips into a routine: A big but unverified account tweets the news with two side-by-side photos, and the masses respond with quote tweets. And like in all places on the internet that start with good intentions, misinformation spreads easily. Film Twitter is of course simply a community of movie lovers on the microblogging platform. Usually the viral posts come from unverified film news accounts such as @FilmUpdates (369,000 followers) or @DiscussingFilm (635,000 followers). The tweets are straightforward — typically an announcement citing a trade publication like Variety or Deadline, although not always with a link — and extremely fast. They always include photos. Industry insiders and celebrities frequently share tweets from these accounts, so the brand names are familiar and trusted. "More than anyone in the industry right now, they understand what people want to see/hear, and adapt the format to get people to pay attention," said 25-year-old Ray, who frequently retweets and quote-tweets @FilmUpdates from his account, @guysitsray. Ray, who asked for his last name not to be published to protect his privacy, said the film news account's brevity is a "breath of fresh air." But the simplicity is also what makes @FilmUpdates and @DiscussingFilm so easy to parody. Any user can change their profile photo and display name for a moment to replicate these accounts and post outrageous film news misinformation that triggers thousands of hot takes — and they do. "I've seen the greatest minds of my generation tricked by Jeremy Strong Stuart Little," @sonnerly tweeted after a parody account tricked people into thinking the Succession actor was going to star in a live-action adaptation of the movie about a talking mouse. @FilmUpdates issued a statement to debunk it. "We can't believe we have to post this but no, Jeremy Strong is NOT playing Stuart Little (as far as we know…)," it tweeted. Other viral hoaxes mimicking the common tweet format include a Twilight reunion and Timothée Chalamet as John Arbuckle. But Film Twitter has been tricked by more than fake casting news. Most recently, a parody account went viral for announcing that Trisha Paytas's baby was born three minutes after Queen Elizabeth II died (which Paytas herself debunked). Another went viral in March for claiming Meryl Streep forgot to attend the Oscars. |
And the people behind them are having a very fun time. Dan, a recent college graduate who asked that we not publish his last name for privacy reasons, runs the @DisbussingFilm parody account. He got a rise out of Film Twitter with joke tweets using the serious news update format about Henry Cavill being cast as "Zack Panther" and Nathan Fielder being cast as "Nathan Dune" in Dune 2. "My account is 90% trying to be funny, 10% trying to trick people," he told BuzzFeed News. "I want everyone to be in on the joke with me." But Jacob Fisher, the 21-year-old who created the @DiscussingFilm account Dan parodies, isn't laughing. He told BuzzFeed News that dealing with parody accounts is one of the most difficult issues his team faces. The @DiscussingFilm account has been around since 2016, and the team has since launched a website that curates entertainment news and publishes reviews. Fisher has tweeted that it's "insane" the @DiscussingFilm account isn't verified because parody accounts subject it to "potential abuse" when they share misinformation. He told BuzzFeed News that publicists have been fooled by fake tweets and reached out to his team to delete them, and that Twitter has denied all requests for verification. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment about @DiscussingFilm's verification status, but the company's guidelines require news organizations to provide extensive proof of their notability and authenticity to be verified. The @FilmUpdates team did not respond to a request for comment. Trey Taylor, a former film editor at Dazed Magazine, told BuzzFeed News that @FilmUpdates and @DiscussingFilm have done a "fantastic job" growing their audiences using the same strategy popularized by @PopCrave — another easily parodied Twitter account that shares music news updates. "Sometimes these accounts can create narratives that can be damaging to actors or... an entire press campaign," he said, citing Film Twitter's obsession with a rumor that Harry Styles spat on fellow Don't Worry Darling cast member Chris Pine. "It can quickly devolve into misinformation or irresponsibility when something goes viral for the wrong reasons." Even when misinformation that people fall for is funny, it's still a symptom of a serious problem social media platforms are struggling to deal with — people have a hard time telling the difference between what's real and what isn't. "This a massive issue for Twitter in general as malicious misinformation regarding a film or TV show spread on social media could cause dire consequences," Fisher said. But the residents of Film Twitter seem to be picking up on the community's tendency to fall for fake news. Users regularly respond to real posts saying they double-checked to make sure they didn't come from a parody account, and the Stuart Little mishap has been immortalized as a meme. As long as Film Twitter's most popular sources remain unverified, members will need to do a quick Google search before firing off their hot takes about Chris Pratt playing Garfield (a real casting we hate as much as Mondays). Until next time,
Kelsey |
"Have you heard of a butter board?" says Justine Doiron at the beginning of her viral TikTok that now has over 8 million views. "I want to make them the next charcuterie board." I frankly, had not, but I'm thrilled to continue fighting against my margarine home upbringing. Doiron credits butter boards to chef Joshua McFadden. The idea is simple enough: slather a bunch of butter on a wooden board, and add salt, lemon, herbs, honey, and edible flowers. Dozens of variations have popped up all over TikTok offering flavor combos, from south Asian flavors to berry and nut options. My supermarket doesn't stock edible flowers, so instead I roasted a head of garlic, added radishes (the French figured that one out a long time ago), zested lemon, tore up some fresh oregano and basil from my community garden, and drizzled some honey on top. |
Other possible toppings: figs, goats cheese, red onions, jamon, chili, chutney, nuts. The only thing that took more than five minutes was the garlic roasting. The butter board looked fancy as hell, tasted yum (although next time I will spread the butter thinner and go heavier on the toppings), and was a third the price of a cheese board. A message from this butter board to all future dinner party guests: prepare to be sick of me. —Amber |
Welcome to where we discuss online community micro dramas — thoughts, feelings, suggestions for us? Email pleaselikeme@buzzfeed.com |
The yassification of Catholicism is well under way, and now it has officially spread to Depop, a trendy thrifting app. A seller went viral on Twitter on Sept. 19 for offering $5 "Catholic confession readings" to "coquette angelic girls." They deleted their account before BuzzFeed News could reach out for comment, but screenshots on Twitter and Reddit dating back to Aug. 16 remain. The listing is a rich tapestry of religion and internet-brained buzzwords. The seller, who says they are a private Catholic school student confirmed and baptized in a Roman Catholic church, promises to perform all penances kneeled at a "holy table." They also tagged words like "bimbo core," "bambi," and "lolita" to attract people drawn to the aesthetics of youthful femininity. "i thought this was an app to buy other people's used sweatshirts," one Twitter user wrote. "And absolution for your immortal soul," the post's original tweeter responded. "There are at least two or three things that are cause for immediate excommunication here," one critic wrote. Another called on Martin Luther to start a new Reformation. Others admired the hustle.
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Offering amateur absolution over the internet is not a trend, but reclaiming Catholic imagery for aesthetic purposes is gaining popularity. The Met Gala challenged celebrities to channel Catholic fashion inspiration in 2018. Vox declared Catholicism to be an "alt status symbol" ripe for memeing in June. Part of the appeal in the religion's imagery, per i-D, is that Catholicism has no overt racial ties. In a controversial op-ed, the New York Times credited the appeal of a brief Catholic "LARP" to Dimes Square, a small enclave of Manhattanites whose power gets regularly debated. The discourse sparked by the viral Depop listing is indicative of all Catholic drama — there's beef between Catholics, people who appreciate the religion's aesthetics, and those who dislike the whole institution. The arguments about what's sincere, what's respectful, and what's problematic about people reclaiming one of the most powerful religions of all time probably won't make any significant advancement in the comments of a Depop listing. The monetization of Catholic guilt is nothing new — this innovator just made it a little more "dasha nekrasova red scare podcast catholic girl trad wife aesthetic fawn bambi coquette Russian bimbo core Slavic girl" than before. —Kelsey |
The girlies from the social news team share what's been living in our heads. |
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