Technically, because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, this past week was a short one for a lot of folks, work-wise. However, things being what they are, that didn’t necessarily mean life was quiet on social media. (The internet never sleeps, amirite?) But what were people talking about? Well, there was news that President Trump was preparing to expand the travel ban. There was also the discovery that Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman might have hacked Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos’ phone, which is all kinds of alarming. Meanwhile, Richmond, Virginia had a pro-gun rally, there’s a new deadly virus that’s made its way to the US, and nerds across the internet are excited about the return of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the long-awaited launch of Star Trek: Picard. Oh, and this dropped.
But what were folks talking about when they weren’t distracted by the star-spangled spectacle? Dear friends, you only had to ask.
How to Get Away With Book Murder
What Happened: It turns out that the internet’s tolerance for violence is significantly lower than you might expect when it comes to books. Yes, books.
What Really Happened: We’ve all been there: We’re engrossed in a piece of classic literature and would want to keep reading on the go, but the damn book is just so physically heavy. If only there was some kind of solution to this problem …
OK, sure. It’s certainly a bold move, not to mention one that pretty much destroys the prospect of selling the books back to a secondhand store. But, as violent a solution as it may appear, surely the internet understood.
Of course, the story spread to mainstream media as you’d expect given the social media reaction, with people sharing arguments both for and against the practice.
