VMA Craziness Heats Up Twitter

The VMAs have been a hotbed for controversy the past few years.  Typically, this controversy plays out louder and longer on social media.  Even today, a few days after the VMAs, Miley, Kanye and a host of other VMA topics are still trending worldwide.  And it is no wonder, the awards show has gotten crazier and crazier every year.  Plus, MTV has been focused heavily on increasing social media engagement.  For example, this year MTV created its own unique emoji for the show.  The neon-colored Moonman emoji is inspired by the Moonman-shaped award that is given to VMA winners.  All tweets that used the hashtags #VMA or #VMAs were tagged with this exclusive emoji. 

And, this tactic worked, blowing up engagement on social media.  In the US, 2.2 million people send 21.4 million tweets around the VMAs, up almost 70% from last year.  The hashtag prompted 4.19 million uses, almost threefold the 1.44 million hashtagged tweets from last year.  And, notably, the VMAs were the most-tweeted non-sports program since October 2011.  

What were the most tweeted about moments?  Get ready for a countdown!  And, you might want to hold on to your seats, these crazy moments make for one bumpy ride!

5. Taylor Swift and Kanye (27,162 tweets)

Taylor and Kanye have had an awkward relationship since he famously interrupted her acceptance speech in 2009.  This year, she introduced him at the VMAs!

4. Nicki vs. Miley (27,441 tweets)

Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj went head to head with snarky criticism that was sparked earlier this year when Cyrus bashed Minaj in the New York Times.  

3. Justin Bieber's breakdown (80,136 tweets)

Justin Bieber knows how to blow up social media.  His tearful breakdown after his performance of "What Do You Mean" prompted an outcry of its own.

2. Miley's malfunction (147,285 tweets)

Common, did you really think you'd make it through an awards show without a wardrobe malfunction?

1. Kanye's speech (551,466 tweets)

He can't really be running for president, can he?  I wouldn't put anything past Kanye West, and the rapper's 10 minute long acceptance speech ranked as the top-tweeted moment of the VMAs!

What was your favorite moment of the VMAs?  

Nicki vs. Taylor in the Twitter-storm of the Year

Last night, a music industry Twitter-storm erupted and things have only slightly settled down.

It all started yesterday when the MTV Video Music Award Nominations were released.  Of course, Twitter had a lot to say about these, with #VMA leading as a trending topic.  But soon joining in the trending topics were more specific artists.... namely  #TaylorSwift and #NickiMinaj.

Nicki Minaj vented on Twitter after her biggest hit "Anaconda" wasn't nominated for Video Of The Year.  The video, which received 19.6 million clicks in its first 24 hours, set a music video record at the time.  So, Minaj had a point when she thought she was snubbed.  She tweeted:

Well, apparently Taylor Swift thought that Nicki was dogging on her specifically, because she replied, 

Nicki replied with a confused "Huh?" and a back and forth ensued between the two.  Well, I guess rather than "between the two", I should say "with all of Twitter" as it seemed like every reader had an opinion on this conversation which erupted into a sprawling conversation about race and gender. 

What do you think of the debate?  Are you #TeamNicki or #TeamTaylor?

 

Miley: Love It, Hate It or Laugh!

"We can't stop.  We won't stop!"

Yes, these are the lyrics to the hit Miley Cyrus preformed last weekend on the VMAs, but they might as well be a description of the public reaction too!  Yeah, we just can't stop talking about Miley's performance!  Okay, so obviously I have my opinions, but looks like everyone else does too.  So, for your satisfaction, I've condensed the most popular reactions into three groups as well as one example from each category that has gone viral!  So here we go, when it comes to Miley, you can shame her, defend her or laugh with her: 

Reaction #1: Shame Her

Yeah, shame is a strong word. But, for some it really rings true!  This blog, written as a letter from a twenty-something to Mileyherself, is a great example of this.  It describes how Miley's actions- since she's in the spotlight- leads to more attention.  But those same actions by an everyday person lead to sometimes tragic results.  Its a good read, and a logical response to a crazy performance!

Reaction #2: Defend Her, Sorta

This almost defense of Miley's actions.  I guess it is more of a call-out of people being hypocritical in what they accept and what they don't.  For example, if you've ever seen the music video "Blurred Lines" - the song that Miley was singing with RobinThicke, you'd know that the women in that video wear LESS clothes than Miley was wearing on stage.  Hard to believe, right?  Yet, the reaction to Miley was far more vicious.

Reaction #3: Laugh with Her

Yeah, sometimes you just need to laugh.  And social media's made sure that you can do that with Miley!  Here's my favoriteblog from this category, that shows Miley pulling her move on just about every popular internet meme there is!  

What was YOUR reaction to Sunday's performance?