It's Groundhog Day. Throw some social media shade
Social Cues: Also trending on Facebook and Twitter is the UC Berkeley riot over a banned Twitter troll.
A giant rat comes out of a hole and sees some shade so we've gotta deal with cold weather for another six weeks. I think that's how Groundhog Day, works, right?
The tradition, which I've just learned is more than a Bill Murray mind game, is trending on Twitter, while Facebook's eyes this Thursday are on the National Prayer breakfast.
Social Cues is our look at what people are talking about on Facebook and Twitter. Here's what is trending on Thursday:
#GroundhogDay: The famed Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, thus predicting there's going to be six more weeks of winter. The groundhog's name, "6 more weeks of winter" and "#INeed6MoreWeeks" all took up top trending spots on Twitter on Thursday. Groundhog's Day comes from a German legend that if a furry rodent sees its shadow on February 2, winter would stretch on and on. Records from 1887 show that Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog has predicted 103 longer winters, but only 18 early springs.
#UCBerkleyRiot: A protest against banned Twitter troll Milo Yiannopoulos speaking at the California campus erupted into violence Wednesday night. More than 1,500 people had gathered outside the scheduled appearance, starting a large fire, throwing bricks and breaking windows. UC Berkeley's police chief said the riot started from masked outsiders, not the school's students. The hashtag #UCBerkleyRiot was trending on Twitter, despite spelling the school's name wrong. President Trump took to Twitter to threaten UC Berkeley with potential budget cuts over the incident.
National Prayer Breakfast: Speaking of the president, he'll be attending the annual National Prayer Breakfast, hosted on the first Thursday of each February. The breakfast is trending on both Facebook and Twitter as people wait to see what Trump will have to say at the event in Washington. Multiple media outlets are livestreaming the speeches on Facebook. On Twitter, people are taking screenshots of Trump's speech, which started with a riff on "The Apprentice."
Australia: Hours before that breakfast meeting, the commander-in-chief had an unpleasant phone conversation with Australia's prime minister, according to the Washington Post. That came after he sent a 10:55 p.m. ET tweet complaining about Australia sending refugees -- or as he described them, "illegal immigrants" -- to the US. On Twitter, people are criticizing Trump for picking a fight with one of the US' closest allies. Horror fiction legend Stephen King chimed in on the situation, via Twitter.
J.K. Rowling: The Harry Potter author is dealing with frustrated fans on Twitter in her own magical way. Rowling has been taking on Twitter trolls after her comments on Donald Trump, with some former fans telling the writer they were burning their Harry Potter books. She screenshotted the tweets at her, pointing out that the reader didn't learn any lessons from her books. Rowling is trending on Facebook for her Avada Kedavra-like response.
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