Cats Go Viral: Why photos and videos of cats are taking over the internet. We also take a look at cybermobbing among teens and its consequences. And on Shift Exit, we watch as CDZA, short for Collective Cadenza, sing their way through music history on YouTube.
Online, there are more videos and photos of cats than any other house pet. Many of them depict fuzzy felines in slapstick scenarios or mastering improbable challenges. But what accounts for the online cat juggernaut?
Cat owners like to claim it’s because their felines are adorable and elegant. Others say it’s because cat owners have no other outlet—unlike dog owners, for example, who can take their pets out for a walk. Cats also tend to be night owls—just like the programmers and computer gurus who post their cat-content while the rest of us are sleeping.
Bullying is a distressing fact of life for many children and teenagers. When bullying goes online, some victims see no other way out than suicide.
The case of Amanda Todd is making international headlines. The fifteen-year-old schoolgirl from Canada became a target after a topless photograph of her circulated on the Internet. For years afterward, she found herself teased, bullied and ridiculed without mercy. Todd suffered severe depression and tried to escape her tormentors by switching schools. Eventually, she committed suicide. She is not alone in this tragedy — more and more young people are committing suicide as a result of cyberbullying. In Germany, experts say that one in five young people have experienced cyberbullying — either as a victim or a perpetrator.
What would the timeless tune "What a Wonderful World” sound like as baroque music? Or as rap song? Or as a heavy metal piece? Thanks to the creative geniuses of the CDZA music collective, we can now go to the YouTube video "An Abridged History of Western Music in 16 Genres” to find out!
