List of All Articles with Tag 'viral'

A short story from 1919 becomes a code word for discontent among jobless graduates.

A woman has explained how she got the same tattoo as her son to prove a point. Writing on Reddit, the woman explained she didn't like tattoos but chose to get one as a strange parenting exercise. She wrote: "My son (19) has wanted a tattoo since he was little so I told him that was okay but to really consider whatever he got and have it be at least a little meaningful and not just do it to be 'cool'. "I told him if he got something and it had no special meaning I would get the exact same one." "I guess he thought it was an empty threat because he got a tribal armband tattoo," she continued. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter She then explained she got the same one leading her son to no longer want to "show his off" and feel cross with her. In the comments, people took her son's side. One wrote: "Getting a copy of the tattoo of your son and saying tattoos have to be meaningful/well thought about doesn’t really match. "The only thing you showed him is that you’re an asshole AND you don’t stand behind your ideals." Another said: "I'd rather have a meaningless tattoo that I like the look of than have a tattoo that permanently shows what a petty and toxic person I can be." And a third wrote: "So now you're an adult with a spite tattoo. You really owned your son with that move!" Awkward. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The penis-enhancing drug 'Big Penis USA' has been banned in Australia after a health watchdog said they pose a "serious risk". The country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has urged people to stop taking the drug, after finding they contained sildenafil which is prescription only. The substance found in erectile dysfunction medication "may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart disease are often prescribed nitrates." When consumed alongside other medications, the pills could cause "serious side effects". "Big Penis USA tablets pose a serious risk to your health and should not be taken," the TGA said in a statement on their site. They encouraged people to take any remaining pills to a local pharmacy to ensure they are disposed of safely. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter To stop any future shipments of Big Penis USA, the TGA will work with the Australian Border Force (ABF) to ensure they don't enter Australia. "The TGA will notify ABF to seize and destroy any of these products intercepted at the border," they wrote. This isn't the first time a warning has been issued about Big Penis USA. An FDA warning stated: "This notification is to inform the public of products marketed as dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drug ingredients and chemicals." "These products are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and body building and are often represented as being ‘all natural,'" they continued. "FDA is unable to test and identify all products marketed as dietary supplements that have potentially harmful hidden ingredients. Consumers should exercise caution before purchasing any product in the above categories." If you suspect any side effects to the product, the TGA has urged people to report them. Any other concerns about the product can be reported on 1800 020 653 or the TGA website. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A prominent fitness influencer has admitted to lying about having late-stage pancreatic cancer in order to gain followers. The woman, famously known as MianBaobao on social media, announced the diagnosis three years ago. According to Insider, the Taiwanese influencer went as far as adding her "illness" to her Instagram bio. "Non-professional weightlifting athlete and a professional cancer fighter," it reportedly read. Her lies started to be exposed a year ago when her ex-husband shared his suspicions. "Every time she went for treatment she insisted that her family drop her off at the entrance to the hospital and insisted on seeing the doctor alone," he said, as per the South China Morning Post. "The total medical expenses for the whole family in 2021 amounted to just $275, and I never saw any attending doctor, diagnosis proof, or hospital receipts from her in the past two years." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The influencer has since deleted all of her Instagram posts and issued an apology. "To all the family members, friends, fans, and netizens who have cared about me, supported me, and cheered me on, I want to apologize. "I did the last thing a person should do. I lied about cancer and lied to everyone for three years. I'm sorry to anyone who ever gave me a little kindness. "I know I deserve to die for the things I've done. And now I need to pay the price for the choices I've made." She went on to address companies who she previously secured brand deals with, writing: "If there's a company that requires me to fork out a sum for compensation, I will do so. But I know there's damage that has been done that money cannot compensate for. All I can do is apologise again." Indy100 reached out to the influencer for comment. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

New ick unlocked: People are paying for blue ticks on Instagram. Avid Instagrammers will have noticed the surge of blue ticks taking over the platform, leaving people confused as to how their friend become an overnight internet sensation. As exciting as that would be, it's sadly not the case. Instead, people are using their hard-earned money for a blue badge. For the blissfully unaware, Instagram followed in the footsteps of Twitter recently by offering a monthly subscription service from £9.99 a month. Let's break this down: Public figures Instagram offer free blue tick verification to public figures including professionals, journalists, influencers, celebrities and brands who meet the platform's account and eligibility requirements. Their accounts must be authentic, unique, complete and notable, meaning they "must represent a well-known, highly searched for person, brand or entity". "We review accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, and we don't consider paid or sponsored media content as sources for review," Instagram said. Once verified, public figures, celebrities and brands that meet certain account and eligibility requirements may not change their username on their account – nor can it be transferred to a different account. On the flip side, there's 'Meta Verified', the new subscription model that allows any Instagram user to pay monthly for a tick. As it stands, Instagram has used the same colour and design for both paying users and notable figures, making it difficult for users to set the two apart. Whether or not they will make the two more identifiable in the future is unclear. Meta Verified / paying subscribers Now, anyone can apply to be verified using their ID and a spare £10 a month. Meta suggests it's to help people have more protection from impersonation and give them access to a "real person" if they encounter any issues. Indy100 reached out to Instagram for comment. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A lawyer instantly regretted his comments after confessing to having an affair in front of an entire crowd at a comedy show. When comedian Jessica Kirson kicked off her show by warming up the audience, she pinpointed a man sitting in the front row and asked what he did for a living due to his "nice suit". He told Kirson he worked as a lawyer, which led the comedian to ask how long he and his plus-one were dating. Without thinking, the date responded that they were not and that he was, in fact, her boss. "This is why I didn't want to sit at the front," the lawyer responded, to which Kirson said: "You’re never going to see these f**king people again." It was then the man shared his concerns about being posted to social media, as the pair were having an affair. Kirson was clearly taken aback by the confession, as she quipped back: "You're having a f**king affair and you're sitting at the front?!" Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @jessicakirson A lawyer came to my show and decided to sit up front even though 😂 #cheating #cheater #lawyer #wow #fyp #foryou The snippet soon went viral on TikTok, where fans took no time in heading to the comments section. "The fact he answered 'an honest lawyer' and then admitted to having an affair right after," one person highlighted, while another joked: "I'm going to hell because I laughed so much… I watched it twice. Hell for sure. Maybe purgatory… that’s worse (according to a friend)." A third person added: "I mean the best way to hide an affair with your assistant is to go to a TikTok-famous stand up and sit front seat." Meanwhile, one fellow TikToker did not see the funny side whatsoever, writing: "This makes me sad someone’s partners back home waiting for their love to come back." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

If you happen to be near the iconic Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, then you stand a chance of getting a photo taken with a ‘giant human poo’ which has been dumped on the shore to mark World Environment Day on Monday. You may well think that plopping a poo on the coastline isn’t exactly a good look on a day designed to draw attention to protecting nature and the planet, but it’s actually made of rescued plastic from south east Asia, and intended to spread a pretty important message. On a webpage explaining their publicity stunt, the New Zealand-based company Better Packaging said: “We’re kicking up a stink because humanity has a problem. We just can’t seem to stop making more and more new plastic, most of it never gets recycled and far too much of it ends up in our oceans. “Basically, we treat plastic like s***.” We see what you did there. They continued: “This giant poop represents the amount of plastic that enters the ocean every 30 seconds. Scary huh. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “Most of it enters via land, and most of that from Asia. These regions don’t have any formal waste management or recycling infrastructure – plastic just gets thrown ‘away’, buried or burnt. “Eventually, with the next monsoon rains, that plastic will get washed into a ditch, then a stream, a river, and then the ocean. We want to stop that happening!” Hence the four-metre high turd, which is made mostly of recycled plastics and second-hand fishing nets, with a wooden tree structure at its base to “keep it upright”. You wouldn’t want a floppy plop, after all (sorry). The artwork – if we can call it that – is titled "Plastic Pile of S***, 2023". Its unveiling follows a report by the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) in May which it said plastic pollution could fall by as much as 80 per cent by 2040 if both countries and companies make “deep” shifts in policies and markets through the use of “existing technologies”. “The way we produce, use and dispose of plastics is polluting ecosystems, creating risks for human health and destabilising the climate,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UNEP. Oh, and if you fancy witnessing the ‘excrement’ but are nowhere near Australia, then you might be in luck, as Better Packaging have said they’d “love to take it ‘on tour’” after going into temporary storage. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A man has faced backlash on social media for filming himself confronting his school bully after he saw that he was now homeless. The clip - which shows the man behind the camera approaching the homeless individual who is sitting on some steps - went viral after the Twitter account Crazy Clips posted the video with the caption "man confronts his high school bully". "At high school you was the man homie. What the f*** happened to you?" the man says. "Remember when you used to flex on me at high school? Because I used to wear baggy clothes?" Panning from the homeless man to his car, the man filming the video says: "Now look at you. Now look at me." The homeless man attempts to shake his hand but is rejected. He doesn't say anything, mainly avoiding looking into the camera and smoking. At the end of the video, the man then throws the homeless man's stuff around and shouts in his face "tighten the f*** up man." He also repeatedly calls the homeless man a "d***head". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Whilst the man behind the camera may have felt high and mighty in the moment, viewers on Twitter criticised him for his actions, with many calling him "cruel" and pointing out that he himself has now become the bully. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A woman has shared her wedding horror story and revealed that her brother insisted on dressing up in a ‘disrespectful’ pirate costume. Posting on the popular “Am I the A**hole?” Reddit thread, the woman didn’t know how to react after being told her sibling was attending her big day dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. The bride wrote: “My brothers wife called me up to tell me they were getting me personalized M&M’s as a wedding present (cool!), oh and, BTW, ‘Since you’re having a yacht wedding, Greg will be wearing a pirate costume.’ I said ‘Please no.’ “But he showed up in a pirate costume exactly like the Johnny Depp pirates of the Caribbean one anyway. Complete with fake dreadlocks.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The woman went on to write: “If he had done this to any of my older sisters on their weddings, they would have cried and freaked out. Or if I had embarrassed him on his wedding he would have flipped out. But I’m seen as the ‘wacky artistic little sister’ that everyone can do whatever to. And he’s so ‘sensitive’ that everyone in my family indulges him and never calls him out.” She went on to say: “Then I got to look like a bridezilla in front of my other guests for being very visibly not thrilled after he interrupted my first dance with my new husband to twirl me around the dance floor against my will while he swung a sword around. One of my new relatives acted like I was being uptight, told me she found the pirate costume funny. I didn’t bother to explain to her ‘Yeah well it’s not your big expensive event with your family being disrespectful as usual.’” The post continued: “I am worried that I am too sensitive and uptight when it comes to my family and the way I sometimes feel disrespected by them. I wish I could lighten up.” She added: “TLDR: I’m the youngest in a big family where they’ve always expected me to be ok with all of my stuff being treated as a joke, whereas their stuff is sacred. And my brother wore a pirate costume to my yacht wedding after I begged for that not to happen. I’m worried that I’m too sensitive to my family dynamics and might be super uptight about how my family dressed and behaved at my wedding, and felt insulted by my bothers costume.” Safe to say, the internet was appalled by the post. The comments section was full of people showing support for the bride, and criticising the selfish acts of the brother. One wrote: “You should have left him stranded on an empty island.” Another added: “I would be so hurt if a close member of my family though so little of me as to do this. I’m so upset that nobody pushed him into the sea.” A user commented: “He made you and your SO day about himself. He's an ahole.” “Your wedding, your rules. He is a huge AH. I would banish him from any future event. A wedding is a big thing and he has no right to ignore your request,” one more said. Another added: “Your brother has main character syndrome. I would feel completely disappointed and hurt. I think you really need to lay down the law this time with this family dynamic or not respecting your events. Say what you need to say to him and then don’t contact him for a while.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A couple who posted videos of themselves deliberately causing car crashes on YouTube and committed insurance ford have been jailed. Christopher and Kimberly Phelps from California uploaded videos on social media driving dangerously and claiming other drivers were responsible [via Dexerto]. They posted the videos on YouTube under the profile name “BLU3 GHO57”, and used it as leverage to pursue compensation from their insurance company. The videos typically received fewer than 100 views each, but there were around 62 dash cam videos posted on the channel of various collisions and dangerous near misses. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The prosecutors also stated that the couple’s child had been present in the car for many of the incidents. An investigation was first launched after the California Department of Insurance uncovered the YouTube channel and discovered a video showing a “suspicious collision” which saw Christopher stop for no apparent reason before a crash. Southern California couple arrested, accused of intentional car crash scams www.youtube.com The pair were arrested in March this year and they’ve now received jail sentences. Christopher has been ordered to serve three years in jail. Kimberly was also sentenced to 90 days in weekend county jail and three years of supervised probation. She was also ordered to attend a 52-week child abuse prevention program. When they were first arrested, the California Department of Insurance issued a statement saying: “Christopher Phelps has been charged with six felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and five felony counts of child endangerment. Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of felony insurance fraud. “Christopher Phelps was previously charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of causing a vehicle collision for the purpose of presenting a false claim following his arrest [earlier this year].” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Gig-goers are in for a treat this summer as some of the world's biggest stars head to the UK. After endless lockdowns pressed pause on the live event industry, they're officially back in full swing, selling out stadiums like they never left – and they're thriving. Stars such as Harry Styles, Guns & Roses, Bruce Springsteen, Arctic Monkeys and Beyonce, who is seemingly a huge fan of Nando's, plan to take over cities across the UK. People are so ecstatic that some diehard fans are even wearing nappies to not miss a minute of their favourite star's performance. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Luckily, Viagogo, one of the trusted ticketing giants, is here to offer its Summer Music Preview to keep everyone in the loop. And, it's not too late to be a part of the action with tickets still available at different price points and seat options. London According to new data, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and British Summer Time are the most searched-for gigs in the capital. Beyonce: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, 3 June / 4 June British Summer Time (P!nk, Guns & Roses, Take That, Blackpink, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Lana Del Rey): Hyde Park, 24 June - 9 July Harry Styles: Wembley Stadium, 16 June The Weeknd: Wembley Stadium, 18 August Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 21st July Manchester Manchester's most-favoured artists have been revealed to be Coldplay, The Weeknd & Arctic Monkeys. Coldplay: Etihad Stadium, 4 June Hanz Zimmer: AO Arena, 4 June SZA: AO Arena, 13 June Courteeners: Heaton Park, 9 June Birmingham Bruce Springsteen, P!NK and Hollywood Vampires are Birmingham's high-in-demand. Bruce Springsteen: Villa Park, 16 June P!NK: Villa Park, 13 June Hollywood Vampires: Utilita Arena, 11 July Maroon 5: Resorts World Arena, 4 July Hozier: O2 Academy, 9 July Liverpool Meanwhile, Liverpool wants to get their hands on Pet Shop Boys, Jamie Webster and Olly Murs tickets. Pet Shop Boys: M&S Bank Arena, 23 June Jamie Webster: Pier Head, 30 June Olly Murs: M&S Bank Arena, 22 August Pete Tony: Aintree Racecourse, 16 June Morrissey: Liverpool Empire Theatre, 19 July Leeds Last but not least, Leeds wants to be a part of the Pet Shop Boys, Reading and Leeds Festival, and the Iron Maiden action. Pet Shop Boys: First Direct Arena, 24 June Reading & Leeds Festival, 24-27 August Iron Maiden: First Direct Arena, 28 June Sounds of the City, 8 July Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A woman turned unwanted and unpleasant experiences with cat callers into an art project, showcasing the dangers of street harassment. Noa Jansma was a student living in Amsterdam when she created the Instagram account @DearCatcallers. The account, which was most active in 2017 but has been recirculating online again recently, saw Jansma pose for selfies with every person who catcalled her while walking around the city. The selfies were taken in the month of September that year, and feature men from all different backgrounds – all appearing to show no shame for their actions. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “They’re not at all suspicious because they find what they do completely normal,” Jansma said. Writing on her social media page, Jansma said: “This Instagram has the aim to create awareness about the objectification of women in daily life. Since many people still don’t know how often and in whatever context ‘catcalling’ happens, I’ll be showing my catcallers within the period of one month.” The account posted before the arrival of a 2018 law in the Netherlands which punishes catcalling and subjects offenders to fines of up to $220 (£175). New laws in the UK were also brought in at the end of last year. It was confirmed in December that sexually harassing women in public is set to be punishable by up to two years in prison under proposed laws backed by the Government. Home Secretary Suella Braverman declared her support for the new legislation, brought forward by former Tory minister Greg Clark, to make the behaviour a specific offence, as she insisted every woman should “feel safe to walk our streets”. Public sexual harassment was already illegal, but did not exist as an offence of its own. The Government wants to make the law “clearer” to the public and the police, encourage women to report their experiences, and emphasise the severity of the crime. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.