#BeforeTwitter is trending on Twitter right now, and I’m having flashbacks to the days when computers were solely used for playing Duke Nukem. Is that going too far back through the sands of time? #AfterTwitter, we have what rapper A$AP Ferg calls the “culture of the Internet,” and in the same conversation he adds, “There’s no racism with the Internet. Racism only was—is probably like five generations ago.” #AfterTwitter, Ferg can probably see the Internet backlash forming on the horizon like an ungodly tsunami and should both immediately call his PR agent and order Jon Ronson’s book.
I can also remember when the NYC subway fare was $1.25 and winters didn’t reduce the city to an icy tundra in the third week of March, but apparently this is the warmest winter on record in the northern hemisphere, and starting on Sunday subway fares will go up to $2.75. It looks like nothing is stopping global warming in general or the MTA in particular from rounding that fare up to $3, but at the same time, someone’s pioneering boozy ice cream, so I guess we can now eat our earthly troubles away.
In other news, Starbuck’s #RaceTogether Twitter/cup campaign will also cue the (intended) Internet storm before dying away like a 24-hour bug. According to Fast Company, “The Twitter reactions to the Race Together initiative are exactly what you’d expect: a frothy mix of snark and indignant anger at Starbucks’ audacity to push discussions about race on folks who want coffee without any engagement from their barista.” On the other side of the mirror, the baristas are probably like #WTF, too—especially the ones who are going to be sent on deliveries up and down the Empire State Building.