How are we feeling this morning, Canada? After a series filled with late (very late!) night games, and a nail biting, nerve wracking Game 6, the Raptors made HISTORY last night by winning the NBA championship title!
The entire country was LIT UP, the celebrations went on into the wee hours, and Canada can proudly stick another feather in its cap. The Raptors are truly Canada’s team now, and what better way to start the weekend!! That, and of course, The Weekly Download!
Here are the headlines you might have missed this week: Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends report is revealed, Old Navy does damage control after an alleged racial profiling incident goes viral, Instagram suffers another outage, Ali Stroker makes history at the 2019 Tony Awards, and more awesome Raptors content from Tim Hortons and Jimmy Kimmel.
Ready for it? Let’s go!
The 2019 Internet Trends Report is Revealed
Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends report was presented this week during Vox/Recode’s Code Conference. The annual report was first presented by Meeker (also known as the “Queen of the internet”) in 1995 and underlines the most important statistics and technology trends on the web.
Here are some of the key findings in this year’s report:
- For the first time, Americans spent more time on their mobile devices than they did watching TV
- Multiplayer video games (think Fortnite) are becoming increasingly similar to social media networks thanks to events streamed in-game
- A rising number of people are using images to communicate — over 50 percent of all tweets, for example, now include images
- New platforms are emerging as hubs for internet ad spending: Amazon, Twitter and Pinterest are growing steadily, but Google and Facebook are still top channels for ad spend
- In 2018, American adults spent an unprecedented average of 6.3 hours per day interacting with digital media, and a growing number of adults report being online “almost constantly”
- Although more people are spending time online, digital ad revenue is slowing down
Want to take a deeper dive into the deck? All 333 slides are available here.
An Alleged Racial Profiling Incident at Old Navy Square One Goes Viral
An aggressive local retail worker has been fired after a video showing her accusing a black woman of stealing has gone viral. The videos have been watched over one million times on Facebook alone, and have been shared by high-profile social media accounts like The Shade Room.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByjGcMuFAvK/?utm_source=ig_embed
Old Navy staff at the location apologized for the employee’s behaviour and later confirmed that she was no longer with the organization. After much public disappointment and concern was shared in response to the video, Old Navy Canada also issued a statement:
“Old Navy was founded to be a place where everyone belongs. It’s been a part of our culture and values since day one, and that makes it even more upsetting when incidents occur that don’t reflect those values.”
Ali Stroker Makes History at the 73rd annual Tony Awards
This past Sunday, “Oklahoma!” actress Ali Stroker made history at the 73rd annual Tony Awards when she became the first wheelchair user to win a Tony, a huge moment for representation in the disability community.
While the win marked an important milestone, it was also a sad reminder of the lack of accessibility in today’s society. Without a permanent or temporary ramp for stage access, Ali had to wait in the wings backstage in case she won and couldn’t join the rest of the “Oklahoma!” cast and crew onstage when they accepted their “Best Revival of a Musical” award.
Many took to Twitter to voice their disappointment:
So happy Ali Stroker won. Pissed that she had to sit back stage, separated from the audience, because the Tonys wouldn’t build a ramp up to the stage. Accessibility is a non-negotiable human right. #TonyAwards
— Amanda Fulton (@sentientfulton) June 10, 2019
Instagram Was Down Yesterday (AGAIN)
Instagram faced yet another major outage yesterday afternoon with users around the world reporting problems. A statement released by the company revealed that “technical issues” were to blame.
Many users took to Twitter to complain about the outage using the hashtag #instagramdown — it didn’t take long for it to become the #1 trending topic worldwide.
While outages can’t always be prevented and happen now and then in the world of tech, it seems like Instagram has had a bit of an unlucky streak as of late. Tell us—does the unpredictability of the app bother you, or does it provide you with a bit of welcome downtime?
Tim Hortons’ New Raptors-Themed Ad Tugs at Heartstrings
As we mentioned at the top, the whole country has been abuzz with Raptors mania! Tim Hortons did a masterful job capitalizing on that NBA Championship excitement and has released a new digital ad featuring Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia.
Let’s just say the ad is making us feel super proud to be Canadian (and a little teary, too!)
“I hope people see why Canada is so special.” @Raptors Superfan Nav Bhatia makes us proud to be Canadian. #WeTheNorth #ThisIsCanada pic.twitter.com/WtamLPZVZH
— Tim Hortons (@TimHortons) June 10, 2019
Friday Fun
Toronto Raptors Fans Betray Their Team
Jimmy Kimmel is at it again with the NBA Championship content! This video is too good not to include in this week’s Friday Fun.
