Monthly Archives: May 2020

The UFC once again continued on during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with UFC 249 on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. In an empty arena, an unexpected conundrum took place.

UFC commentators sit ringside and have their eyes and ears on the action. This brings great reactions and smart analysis. But Saturday night, it also made for extra coaching.

Carla Esparza and Greg Hardy both admitted to hearingformer light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier's commentary and using it to their advantage.

"Thank god for not having the crowd," Hardy said. "Shout out to DC, I heard him tell me to go out and check it and I need to figure out how to check it. So I started trying to check him and ... game changer."

As the rest of the sports world waits to return, they can learn valuable lessons from this. There's no doubt games will be played without fans in attendance, so what does a sport like basketball do with announcers sitting courtside? Mark Jackson might unintentionally become a coach again without even trying.

Imagine if an announcer is critiquing a player's defense or is pointing out how a team's offense can exploit a hole in the opposition's defense. In these odd circumstances, this might be the time for leagues to allow arenas/stadiums to pump up fake crowd noise. That wouldn't come without controversy, though.

Of course, teams would pump up more noise when the other team has the ball, or if the other team is at bat in the case ofbaseball, too. Without fans in the stands, home-field advantage somewhat is out the door. This could be a way to bring that back and bring more of a sense of normalcy for players, as long as there are restrictions on when teams are allowed to play doctored fan noise and music.

[RELATED:Hardy's continued UFC presence should offend, insult us all]

Cormier couldn't avoid being heard. He was doing his job and needs to give the proper analysis. This won't be a problem in football, and likely not in baseball, but that could change whenbroadcast booth windows are opened on a warm day or if announcers are moved to the stands to maintain social distancing.

The Korean Baseball Organization is using cardboard cutouts of fans at games right now to make the viewing experience from home a bit more normal. Perhaps American sports will do something of that sort when they resume as well.

Sports have fans. They have noise, music, food vendors and announcers alike. There will be ways to make games feel somewhat more "normal."

Pump up crowd noise. Play music. Have a recording of a food vendor yelling "Hot dogs!" and "Beer, $16!" There was plenty to learn from a bloody night in Florida.

And Cormier doing his job was a lesson that can't be overlooked.

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Did UFC 249 prove that sports without live fans will work? - NBCSports.com

Sadly over the last couple of months my Twitter account has also had to spread the message of Stay Home, Stay Safe and Save lives and how the services that residents pay their council tax for are changing over the coming months in order to deal with the crisis. Its been heartbreaking to retweet the Nursing Times posts of front line health and care staff who have passed away alongside my usual tweets on operational services from bin collections, school dinner arrangements and leisure facility availability.

I have noticed that as local government officers on social media in the main we stay calm, professional and apolitical in order to not upset too many apple carts. We all have that sentence at the top of our bio that says views are my own but then have our job title - which of course adds a seriousness to the type of tweet you may tweet!

In my own experience of exploring Twitter I have found local government communications to be clear and informative, they try to encapsulate and translate the sometimes confusing national messages for our region and of course some people will always need further clarification. We are all wired to receive messages differently and so its always important to sometimes talk back, respond, explain a little bit further on occasion.

But what happens when you put out a relatively benign message about your service or that nice walk you took through town that morning and someone responds with you damn lazy council worker, why are you out walking instead of fixing my potholes? Or much worse, I had a lovely one this morning from someone who decided in capitals to shout at me youre a f****ing disgrace. I have to say Im not quite sure why?

There is of course a block button for those that are so incandescent with rage that they feel the need to rip the skin off your council working back but I prefer not to if possible. I prefer to ask whats up, what the issue and why do you hold that view, especially if its not fully cognisant of the facts.

However, as working in isolation has become increasingly difficult Ive had to take the decision to block immediately anyone swearing, abusing, ranting and so untrustworthy of the information that I am freely sharing that they decide Im nothing more than an idiotic stupid woman for daring to share it.

Twitter can be an immense force for good. It promotes our services, it provides great local information and it can give us real time responses when our communities are impacted by emergencies, accidents, and incidents. It can also be a source of great harm, damaging good intentions, undermining confidence in perfectly good decision making and worst of all be a public flogging and shaming platform for what in the most part are officers genuinely trying to inform or lift spirits.

So every now and then I think, Ill come off Twitter, it gets too nasty but something in the back of my mind always says.. keep going girl, youre in contact with great people, great residents and you need to sort the wheat from the chaff and stay focused on delivering what you set out to do which is provide help, support, information and light-hearted human interactive humour with those who follow you.

Donna Ball is executive director of operations at Bury MBC

@Ballydonna

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Twitter or bitter? - The MJ

It seems that Twitter has had it enough! The company is shutting down its original site legacy theme version on the 1st of June 2020, as reported by BleepingComputer.

Twitter has issued a warning to all the users who have been using user-agent switching hacks and unsupported browsers to enable the legacy theme.

The message was loud and clear. No one can dupe Twitter anymore! They have clearly stated the date of the shutdown, as well as warned the users to switch to a supported browser like Firefox, Edge, Safari and Google Chrome, and to disable the extensions that mask the browsers.

Now, this sounds pretty serious. The clash between users and Twitter began in July 2019, when out of nowhere, Twitter released a new site interface, replacing the original site legacy template.

Initially, users hated it, and what irked them more was that there was no way to get the old theme back. It seemed forceful on the part of Twitter, and users did not take it well.

So, they came up with their own hack to keep using the old interface.

By changing the user-agent in the browser, it was not very difficult to trick the website into displaying what the people wanted. By quickly installing a User-agent switching extension, people found a way to dupe Twitter into thinking that they were running Internet Explorer 11, which was not supported by Twitter, and therefore, it let Twitter show them the legacy interface that they preferred.

However, much to the disappointment of these ardent fans of the old site theme, Twitter has now put its foot down (not literally!) and has issued fair warning plus an ultimatum and a deadline too.

Looks like it will shove down the new theme regardless of whether the users like it or not.

To be honest, Twitter has every right to bring any changes to the site, because after all, their company, their rules. But in times of a crisis, when people are already panicked and going through various phases of depression, anxiety and agitation due to the uncertainty and gloom of the coronavirus pandemic, maybe the timing to further aggravate them by taking their favorite theme is not so good!

Twitter could have waited for a little longer, if possible, without hurting the sentiment of its users over such a petty issue.

Because really, this is nothing too major in comparison to the life and death related problems the world is already going through. This dispute between Twitter and its users over a site theme seems small in the face of what we all are already stuck in. Because coronavirus pandemic is not going anywhere soon. The entire world is panicking as the economy has crumbled and no one knows what is next to come.

So, maybe, a giant tech app like Twitter could have taken it slowly and swallowed the bitter pill a little longer, to avoid generating negative sentiments among its users.

Read next: Twitter brings a new policy to reinforce thinking before tweeting

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Twitter issues warning to shut the site's legacy theme once and for all in June 2020 - Digital Information World

US President Donald Trump has been across Twitter and has said, "@CBS and their show, @60Minutes, are doing everything within their power, which is far less today than it was in the past, to defend China and the horrible Virus pandemic that was inflicted on the USA and the rest of the World. I guess they want to do business in China!"

This is the latest comment that will continue to stir the trade war sentiment, weighing on risk appetite.Markets are hopingTrumps threats to penalise China for COVID-19 are pandering to Americans fear of China during an election year.In response to UStalk of adding on more tariffs, stopping USpension money from investing in China and even stripping it of sovereign immunity, China has only offered verbal rejoinders so far. We are still not seeing a significant adverse reaction in the markets thus far.

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Trump stirring the tradewar pot with comments over Twitter - FXStreet

In less than two weeks, Tennessee's 2021 recruiting class has gone from being one of the SEC's best to being one of the top classes in the country. The Vols continued their recent tear on the recruiting trail Sunday by landing four-star Class of 2021 linebacker Aaron Willis of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore.

After landing Willis, Tennessee now has 20 commitments for the 2021 class, 10 of which have come within the past two weeks. The Vols have the nation's No. 2 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite team rankings.

The 6-foot, 207-pound Evans is ranked the No. 112 overall prospect and No. 9 outside linebacker in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Tennessee has received 13 commitments during the ongoing dead period for recruiting, which started in mid-March and the Vols have gotten even hotter since five-star defensive end/linebacker Dylan Brooks of Handley High School in Roanoke, Ala., started Tennessee's recent run by announcing his commitment to the Vols on April 26.

Here's a look at some of the reactions that were posted on Twitter following Evans' commitment, including what some members of the Vols' staff and some of Tennessee's current players, signees and commitments had to say.

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Twitter reaction: Top247 LB Willis continues Tennessee's tear - 247Sports

New Delhi: As disinformation related to COVID-19 is spreading faster than the virus itself, micro -blogging platform Twitter feels that its work has never been more critical and its service has never been in higher demand than ever before globally, including in India.

The power of a uniquely open service during a public health emergency is crystal clear, says Mahima Kaul, Director, Public Policy, India and South Asia at Twitter, adding that they are continuing to review the rules in the context of COVID-19 and considering ways in which they may need to evolve to account for new behaviours.

Since introducing its updated policies on March 18, Twitter has removed more than 2,400 tweets containing misleading and potentially harmful content.

"Our automated systems have challenged more than 3.4 million accounts targeting manipulative discussions around COVID-19. We will continue to use both technology and our teams to help us identify and stop spammy behaviour and accounts," Kaul told IANS.

Twitter has received positive response to its efforts in curbing COVID-19 related fake news and misinformation in India.

The efforts include an events page dedicated to COVID-19 information called "Coronavirus Tweets from Indian authorities", which is essentially a timeline of tweets from verified Indian officials and bodies such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi), Health Minister Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan), the official Citizen Engagement Platform of the Government of Indian (@mygovindia, Press Information Bureau (@PIB_India) and other state and Central ministers, as well as public health agencies.

"Every account holder in India can see this page on the top of their home timeline. If someone has their settings set to Hindi, then they will see the same page with Hindi Tweets. The timeline also lets people track developments around the latest social distancing and healthcare information," informed Kaul.

The platform recently onboarded the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (@MoHFW_INDIA) to Twitter Seva to help Indians with a speedy resolution to their health-related queries.

"This public service is allowing the Ministry to communicate effectively and at scale with the public, especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The dedicated account @CovidIndiaSeva establishes a direct channel between the Government and citizens to provide access to authoritative health and public information," Kaul elaborated.

She said that Twitter India is regularly working with trusted partners, including public health authorities, researchers, NGOs, and governments to keep improving its fight against COVID-19.

"To tackle misinformation related to COVID-19, we have broadened our definition of harm and expanded our safety rules to address content that goes directly against guidance from authoritative sources with the intent to influence people into acting against recommended guidance," said Kaul.

The company has also increased its use of machine learning and automation to take a wide range of actions on potentially abusive and manipulative content.

"Additionally, we`re continuing to review and require the removal of Tweets that do not follow the Twitter Rules - half of which we catch before they`re ever reported to us. We continue to remain vigilant," Kaul added.

Twitter is releasing a new endpoint into Twitter Developer Labs to enable approved developers and researchers to study the public conversation about COVID-19 in real-time.

Tweets by people on the service will be made available to researchers and developers for free.

According to Kaul, the data will help research the spread of the disease, understand the spread of misinformation, crisis management, emergency response, and communication within communities.

"As we`ve said on many occasions, our approach to protecting the public conversation is never static. That`s particularly relevant in these unprecedented times. We intend to review our thinking daily and will ensure we`re sharing updates on any new clarifications to our rules or major changes to how we`re enforcing them," Kaul told IANS.

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Coronavirus COVID-19: Our role has never been more critical, says Twitter India - Zee News

The Met Gala, one of the biggest nights in fashion, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in its place is the virtual Met Gala that will be held on Twitter by the members of the high fashion Twitter community on May 4, lead by @HFMetGala.

The @HFMetGala Twitter page is made up of 11 members, including the creator, Aria Olson. The page announced on April 30 they would host a virtual gala, a celebration also referred to as the High Fashion Twitter Met Gala.

When they canceled [the Met Gala] it was really sad for the community because its something that brings us together, Olson said to The Cut.

To celebrate the gala, people can submit photos, looks, illustrations and dream boards using the layout that is provided by @HFMetGala with the hashtag, #HFMetGala or #HFMetGala2020. This years online gala followed the Met Gala 2020 theme, About Time: Fashion and Duration, which is billed as a journey through the history of fashion from 1870 to the present, CNN reported.

The high fashion Twitter community is for fashion lovers, enthusiasts and anyone who wants to discuss runway collections, fashion history, industry news and issues like fashions impact on the environment, according to The Cut.

Dedicated to creating an online space where fantasy reigns supreme and impracticality does not exist, the High Fashion Twitter Met seeks to allow fashion enthusiasts from around the world to share and express their unique creative visions without real world inhibitions, @HFMetGala posted on Twitter.

All you see on the news today is COVID, COVID, COVID, and that can get really draining, Olson said, according to The Cut.

The members also encouraged people to donate $5 to the International Medical Corps, which sends out first responders to donate medical supplies and help people in need.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the United States, usually hosts the Met Gala, a fundraising benefit for the Costume Institute, on the first Monday in May. A-list celebrities such as designers, upcoming names in fashion and well-known artists like Rihanna and Lady Gaga, typically attend the opening of the Costume Institutes spring exhibition.

However, the museum closed like many other museums and cultural institutions after being pressured to adhere to Gov. Andrew Cuomos guidelines for social distancing. He cautioned people to avoid gatherings of 50 or more people and said ll programs and events through May 15 will be canceled or postponed, according to the New York Times.

The online gala has no association with the Met, the Costume Institute, official gala personnel or the social platform. Therefore, if the gala is held later, it keeps its exclusivity, while the online gala offers people something for themselves.

Anna Wintour, Vogues editor-in-chief, postponed the event. The event was supposed to be sponsored by Louis Vuitton.

Due to the unavoidable and responsible decision by the Metropolitan Museum to close its doors, About Time, and the opening night gala, will not take place on the date scheduled, Wintour wrote for Vogue.

She said the exhibit will be previewed in Vogues May issue.

The postponement is a significant loss of revenue for the museum. Because of the exclusiveness of the event, there is usually a lot of profit generated. People are usually invite-only, and tickets cost upwards of $30,000, CNN reported.

Last years exhibit, Camp: Notes on Fashion, raised $15 million.

There are only a few instances where the gala had not been held, namely 9/11 and former President John F. Kennedys assassination, according to CNN.

The High Fashion Twitter Met Gala endeavors to give back to this incredible community and celebrate the voices of the new generation of fashion devotees, @HFMetGala tweeted.

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The Met Gala finds a new home on Twitter after COVID-19 cancelation The Ticker - The Ticker

Sen. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward CruzSen. Lamar Alexander to self-quarantine after staff member tests positive for COVID-19 Cruz rebukes San Antonio City Council for denouncing 'Chinese virus' as hate speech Ted Cruz and Joe Scarborough get into Twitter feud over viral video of Pence shared by Kimmel MORE (R-Texas) and MSNBC host Joe ScarboroughCharles (Joe) Joseph ScarboroughTed Cruz and Joe Scarborough get into Twitter feud over viral video of Pence shared by Kimmel Trump campaign manager mocked for 'Death Star' comparison Trump raises conspiracy theory to attack MSNBC's Scarborough MORE got into a heated clash on Twitter on Friday, with the two hurling insults back and forth afterScarborough deleted a tweet sharing a video that made it appear as though Vice President Pence delivered empty boxes of personal protective equipment (PPE) to a hospital.

In a viral clip, Pence is caught on what appears to be a hot mic joking about carrying empty boxes into a Virginia nursing home "just for the cameras." The partial clip was shared by late-night host Jimmy KimmelJames (Jimmy) Christian KimmelTed Cruz and Joe Scarborough get into Twitter feud over viral video of Pence shared by Kimmel Washington Post fact-checks Kimmel on edited Pence video: 'Certainly a phony tale' Kimmel apologizes for suggesting Pence carried 'empty boxes' to nursing home MORE, who later apologized once it was made clear Pence had been joking and the full video showedthe vice president carrying full boxes into the nursing home.

Scarborough had shared the shortened video, and later announced after Kimmel's apology that hewould delete themisleading video.

I guess Twitter is a full time job. I apologize to Mike Pence for retweeting a tweet that had been disproved. Im deleting now.

But Cruz called out Scarborough for sharing the video, and hit him for being a "dishonest and corrupt" journalist.

Scarborough clapped back, escalating the feud by referencing Trump's past insults of Cruz: "Ted, when I make a mistake I admit it. You remain mired in shame because you kowtow to a man who called your wife ugly and said your daddy assassinated JFK. Me messing up a tweet or two will never erase the shame you carry every day of your life."

Cruz then hit back, comparing Scarborough to "a teenage girl throwing her panties at the latest boy band" byhaving Trump frequently appear on MSNBC during the 2016 Republican primary.

Hmm. When youre on the defensive for being dishonest & corrupt, perhaps best not to forward fraudulent stories from Jimmy Kimmel (that hes admitted were false)? You are claiming to be a journalist, after all.... https://t.co/tYsgKJGxpR

Ted, when I make a mistake I admit it. You remain mired in shame because you kowtow to a man who called your wife ugly and said your daddy assassinated JFK. Me messing up a tweet or two will never erase the shame you carry every day of your life. https://t.co/eJa4qWzqA2

Joe, you chased after Trump for 2 years like a teenage girl throwing her panties at the latest boy band; now you pretend to be this indignant paragon of virtue outraged at everything he says & does. All to get invited to DC cocktail parties & thrill the 13 people watching MSNBC. https://t.co/XG9P0Bwrbp

You lose this fight every time. You sold your soul to Trump. You. Lose.

PS. I dont do cocktail parties. I went to University of Alabama and University of Florida. Youre a Harvard and Princeton boy who spends your life around lobbyists and billionaires. You can cut out the man-of-the-people BS. Nobody believes anything you say.

The last tweets in the feud appeared to end with Scarboroughdragging Cruz as a "Harvard and Princeton boy."

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Ted Cruz and Joe Scarborough get into Twitter feud over viral video of Pence shared by Kimmel | TheHill - The Hill

S&P Global Inc. said Wednesday that it kicked out big-name companies and added others to its sustainable version of its bellwether S&P 500 index, a move that will impact a growing swath of investments tied to the benchmark.

Following this years rebalance of the S&P 500 ESG Index, the New Yorkbased ratings agency firm now excludes Equifax Inc. EFX, -0.85% and ViacomCBS Inc. VIAC, -0.66% VIACA, 0.00 for landing in the bottom quarter of environmental, social and governance scores among S&P 500 members. It also kicked out Twitter TWTR, -1.27%, since it had a low score under the United Nations Global Compact.

S&P said it replaced Walmart Inc. WMT, +0.56% with Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, +1.25% because its ESG score fell below its industry peers.

In response to S&Ps decision, a Walmart representative said the company hasnt been engaged in a discussion or exchanged information with anyone from S&P regarding the S&P 500 ESG Index. ESG rating systems are evolving and current methodologies are inconsistent across rating organizations.

We stand by our ESG work which has been recognized by others, the spokesperson added.

Twitter declined to comment. Equifax and ViacomCBS didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Other well-known companies that S&P excluded were Clorox Co. CLX, +1.35%, Ford Motor Co. F, -2.56%, Nordstrom Inc. JWN, -4.93% and Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, -2.53%, but it said these were actually eligible based on their ESG performance and were removed at the firms discretion.

Companies S&P added to the index include American Airlines Group AAL, -2.46%, Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL, -4.65% and DTE Energy Co. DTE, -2.74%.

After screening out companies involved in tobacco or controversial weapons or with a low United Nations Global Compact score, the S&P 500 ESG Index aims to hold as many companies with high ESG scores by targeting 75% of the parent benchmark market cap by specific industry groups.

See: MarketWatchs complete coverage of climate change and corporate responses

S&P said the index has delivered better performance this year than the S&P 500 SPX, -0.25% benchmark; its down just less than 10.5% in 2020, while the S&P 500 is down 10.8%. Over the past 12 months, the ESG index is down 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is now up nearly 0.4%.

As of the 2020 rebalance, 311 members of the S&P 500 made it in the index and 56 were excluded, while another 138 were eligible but not selected.

Meeting sustainability standards has become increasingly important for companies as a growing wave of investments are tied to ESG performance. S&P has licensed the S&P 500 ESG Index for funds, including the Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF SNPE, -0.08%, which now holds more than $100 million in assets.

Invesco Ltd. also has exchange-traded funds tracking the index: the Invesco S&P 500 ESG Index ETF listed in Canada ESG, +2.67% and the Invesco S&P 500 ESG UCITS ETF listed in Europe.

In January, S&P and BlackRock Inc. BLK, -1.17%, the worlds largest money manager with close to $7 trillion in assets, agreed to create ESG versions of S&Ps flagship indexes to launch new sustainable funds.

BlackRock forecasts that sustainable investments in exchange-traded and index funds will soar to $1.2 trillion by 2030. It said there is around $220 billion in such funds currently.

Read on:Fund giant BlackRock issues stewardship playbook as a proxy-season test and SEC rulings loom

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Twitter, Walmart, Equifax and others dropped by S&P from its ESG index, while Costco is newly included - MarketWatch

When the pandemic and the lockdown that followed suddenly erased packed calendars, people made use of the space to catch up with each other. For author Rachna Bisht, it gave her the time to get back in touch with college friends, 30 years after graduating from St Johns College, Agra. We turn 50 this year and a Zoom chat led to an idea to do a hip number to celebrate our student days when we wore salwar-kameez and had oily plaits. We jived to Jab chaye, mera jadoo. It is quite a hit now, says the Delhi-based writer. Rachna also edited a video for her family, subsequently: the age of the participants ranged from two to ninety.

Despite restrictions, get-togethers, partying, dancing, team sports and song sessions are on in full flow, but on social media. Across continents, families are coming up with creative ideas and collaborating as cousins match steps, plate dinner and send notes to each other on videos that are shared enthusiastically on social media. Friends and alumni groups too are not far behind in making well-edited videos that show off their camaraderie.

This trend of home videos began with the #DontRushChallenge on Twitter. Set to a song of the same name, Dont Rush by Young T & Bugsey, the video showed seven students of the University of Hull in UK transforming themselves with make-up.

Guide for dummies

Some of the videos tend to go viral, and are often the ones that pack in a little bit of humour, song or dance, like the video of 60 doctors in OT scrubs jiving to Pharrell Williams song Happy. Titled Song of hope, the video features medical practitioners from Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, Surat, Pune, Lucknow, Kochi, Kannur, Kolkata, Kanyakumari and other cities.

90% of the dancers are gynaecologists. All of us are working around the clock even during lockdown as babies cant wait, but we are worried about infections. So we were discussing a project to emphasise the importance of mental and emotional health during these trying times. That is how we decided to do this film. A Surat-based friend, Dr Pooja Nadkarni Singh, got in touch with Rahul Kedia who directed and edited the film, says Dr Parasuram Gopinath, a gynaecologist and obstetrician in Kochi. He shows off his dance moves in the company of his wife, Meenu Batra Parasuram, a radiologist.

Chennai-based Dr Erika Patel, a fertility specialist, laughs while talking about her nimble movies even when she is eight months into her pregnancy. Rahul divided the song into six parts and told each of us how to go about it. In this rather tense situation, it was fun to do the film, she says.

This idea of having fun is what motivated mom and entrepreneur, Anita George, to rope in 12 of her friends, all from Chennai, to come together for a funky film that shows them pursuing their interests despite the lockdown. I wanted to show that even while being quarantined at home, we can be active and pursue what we enjoy doing, says Anita.

[Anita] took a great deal of trouble to come up with an idea that shows us following our passion while at home and practising social distancing, says TV anchor and radio jockey, Paloma Rao, adding, She told us how to pass the props, and later edited the entire film. It was a fun thing to do and I liked the idea of women supporting women.

Another film that is making the rounds is a celebration of the culinary jugad of Kozhikode. Made by producer Sherga Sandeep, her siblings, their cousins and children, the video features 18 people. It was suggested by my niece Pooja Vrijmohan T. Since all of us are devotees of food, we decided to do one that showcased our skill as cooks. Nine of us cousins and our children, living in the US, Australia and India, took part in the video, says Sherga. Since then, Shergas sisters and cousins have come up with more such videos that capture the fun times the cousins have when they gather for holidays and functions.

The same spirit brought together a bunch of amateur footballers, whose day job is being lawyers at the Kochi High Court. On weekends, we used to play sevens, a kind of abridged football match popular in Malappuram, on an artificial turf called the Jogo boys. Although we have moved to another turf, we retained the name. The lockdown stopped the matches. That is when some of us wondered if we could kick off with a video to recall those good times, says Millu Dandapani. Each of them shot in their homes and sent the videos to lawyer Vishnu Sharesh in Kannur, who edited it into a seamless clip that shows them passing, kicking and defending.

Former students of Calicut and Alappuzha medical colleges, the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, and schools across Kerala have all come up with their own films. For instance, Tisha Mathew and Jino Jose got 45 of their batchmates in St Thomas Residential School in Thiruvananthapuram to participate in a song-and-dance routine. Tisha says that it was an interesting way for the friends to connect many years after they left school as they are scattered over different continents. Similarly for ENT specialist Kala P, a dance video compiled by the 44th batch of doctors from the Calicut Medical College helped the Mumbai-settled health professional to forget work-related worries for a while.

The idea is to live life to the fullest, says film choreographer Sajna Najam. Our extended family are our best friends too and we used to hang out a lot. We felt isolated during the lockdown and that is when I thought of a dance video. I suggested we pay a tribute to our family friend and relative, the late (actor) Prem Nazir. They joined in with gusto, she says.

Their video has 22 family members grooving to the feisty old number Chettikulangara Bharani Naalil. A family may not be perfect but to stay united is what is important, Sajna adds.

For a noble cause

In the case of eight women entrepreneurs from Kochi, helping local farmers and motivating consumers to buy local was what made them do a video promoting pineapple. Jeemol Koruth Verghese, one of my close friends and a baker, told me that instead of requesting people to buy, perhaps a funky video would attract eyeballs, explains Diwia Thomas.

Although greenhorns in filmmaking, they shot their part on smartphones, and then Diwia got Anish Babu Verghese, an award-winning ad filmmaker, to edit the video.

Within five hours of us posting it, it went viral. But what was satisfying was that since then, farmer Bipin Vasu, the reason why we made the video, has been selling a truckload of pineapples in Kochi every day. We did not stop with that. We also started a Facebook page Love local buy local that has details of farmers selling their produce, adds Diwia.

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How a Twitter challenge during the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 results in a spurt of home-made videos on social media - The Hindu