The first week of every month, contributor Amy Phillips will recap what made waves in blogging for the previous month.
July 2011 will be remembered for two things; the debt ceiling debate in Untied States and the massacre by a Christian extremist in Norway. The temperature climbed all over Northern Hemisphere as summer took hold. As temperatures climbed, so did temperatures on blogs and social media.
Norway was by far, the biggest topic on blogs. Human’s capacity for senseless violence still has the power to shock us, just as acts of heroism in the face of danger gives us hope. It seems that the gunman hoped to spark anti-Islam backlash. Many of the immigrants flooding in Europe are from countries where Islam is the main religion. This beautiful blog by an American in Norway has several posts on the bombing and how the Norwegians are coping. The tragedy has brought Norwegians together, and they mourn the tragedy as a people.
The other issue that has captivated the world’s attention is the debt ceiling debate going on in the United Stated Congress. To get a handle on the complicated issues at stake, a lot of people say “explain it to me like I’m five.” Reddit did that for its readers. Of course, explaining stuff with some humor is always popular. It’s a small coincidence that a TV show from a decade ago may have predicted this whole melee. Win or lose, America’s credibility will take the biggest hit. Already, world leaders and finance experts are lining up to chide the United Stated for this debt sideshow; Chile, China, England, and others. Financial troubles are not only constrained to America, Greece is also facing public revolt over negotiations to help with its money woes. Of course, other countries may have similar problems, but they just hide it better.
Two big cons took place in America during the month of July. Comic-Con by far the biggest and most well-known takes place in San Diego. Here is great ‘unofficial’ blog covering the con. The pictures themselves are worth a look. This video is a GREAT watch, highly recommend. The other conference takes place on the East Coast, in Baltimore, is Otakon. There are couple of great blogs covering this anime-filled con. Even following the Otakon tag on tumblr, will turn up some cosplay pictures.
Other happenings included Will & Kate’s trip to Canada, the farewell to the Harry Potter movies, unrest in Syria, and of course the heat. It got HOT, really hot, so, so hot. And did I mention hot? Fortunately, we have plenty of great viral videos to keep us in a good mood. The ‘can’t hug every cat’ lady is back with a great remix. There is a video from a TV segment on soda pop shop that you have to see to believe. Shakespeare done a way you haven’t seen before. Even the Google Plus furor got its own viral video. The viral video of the month was definitely the Kenny Powers/ K-Swiss video.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjc5LFThDTQ&w=560&h=349]
