Mandela’s Death Coincides With Royal Date Night, Twitter Implodes
In a world where news comes as fast as your Internet connection, and breaking stories are first announced on Twitter, confusion is bound to happen. On Thursday, news of Nelson Mandela’s death unfortunately coincided with the London premiere of a new movie about the legendary South African leader — “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” On ...
In a world where news comes as fast as your Internet connection, and breaking stories are first announced on Twitter, confusion is bound to happen. On Thursday, news of Nelson Mandela's death unfortunately coincided with the London premiere of a new movie about the legendary South African leader -- "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom." On Twitter, the rumors of his passing, which turned out to be true just minutes later, became interwoven with the discussion of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton's red carpet outfit, creating a jarring dissonance.
In a world where news comes as fast as your Internet connection, and breaking stories are first announced on Twitter, confusion is bound to happen. On Thursday, news of Nelson Mandela’s death unfortunately coincided with the London premiere of a new movie about the legendary South African leader — “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” On Twitter, the rumors of his passing, which turned out to be true just minutes later, became interwoven with the discussion of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s red carpet outfit, creating a jarring dissonance.
Here are some examples:
Vanity Fair’s Royal Hairdo Watch didn’t get the memo:
While the world turned to Johannesburg, People magazine kept a close eye on the Royal Date Night.
Some Twitter users just embraced the coincidence:
Hanna Kozlowska was an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy from 2013-2014. Twitter: @hannakozlowska
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