From old hits resurfacing on TikTok to GOAT tennis players, social media was dripping with nostalgia this week

K-POP at it again

This week, K-pop broke the Internet. Again. As they do. Not even weekly. But daily. (I’m only saying weekly because I talk to you guys through this column weekly). Hourly perhaps. The one thing you can count on trending on all social media platforms always is K-pop. But that’s for another today. Today, I talk about K-pop because they brought back the Macarena.

The Macarena’s BACK! (Whether you like it or not)

In 1993, the song Macarena appeared in the 1993 album A mi gusta and became a craze for the many years to come (I’m having faint PTSD thinking about grade school dances where everyone made a fool out of themselves with us – and by fool, I mean me only, the rest of the girls in my class were tall and graceful while I was short and too nerdy to understand the moves). It ranked on the top charts in Billboard numbers back in the day and perhaps the song has never got out of style but it was a surprise to see it trending on TikTok the other day.

Yeonjun’s Gone Viral

The song has been used multiple times in various films and sitcoms as cliches but it became a flashpoint in Adam Sandler’s animated sequel Hotel Transylvania 3 in 2018. It was brought back again in 2021 when K-pop sensation, 21-year-old Yeonjun, dueted on this song’s version on TikTok. The video was possibly taken down due to copyright infringement but it went viral on Twitter and soon enough there were hundreds and thousands of duets for Macarena on TikTok duplicating the animated character’s actions which were even more over the top than the original steps.

Djokovic the GOAT?

Speaking of greatest duets, one of the sports’ world’s big debates was who was greater — Djokovic or Federer? Nadal or Sampras? Social media didn’t agree on anything, as usual, paving way for heated debates between different fandoms. Federer and Nadal have both won 20 Grand Slams each while Djokovic has won 19. Sampras trails at 14 but some argued Djokovic is younger than Nadal. But winning the French Open seemed to end the debate for a lot of folks. Greatest of all time? You decide.

Amanpour’s Bravest Clip Yet

Christiane Amanpour, anchor and journalist extraordinaire of CNN, posted a small clip on Twitter where she announced that she had been battling ovarian cancer. She encouraged women to take their health seriously and get regular screenings for cancer and talked briefly about her recent chemotherapy treatments. Gracefully, she ended her short announcement with, ‘So that’s my news. Now let’s get to the news’.

There was a time when journalists were taught not to be the news. But that was a different world, one that will never return. We live in the new normal of the digital age where a journalist’s social media following matters much more than their ethical observation or understanding of facts at hand. Buzzfeed journalists are now winning Pulitzers and Instagram influencers are publishing guides on how to live life and look beautiful while doing it. The best thing to do now perhaps is click the follow button and ride the wave.

mahwash@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai