Robinhood Forgets What Its Namesake Stands For, And More Of This Week's 'One Main Character'
Every day somebody says or does something that earns them the scorn of the internet. Here at Digg, as part of our mission to curate what the internet is talking about right now, we rounded up the main characters on Twitter from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
This week's characters include a former CNN host who made a disrespectful and narcissistic "tribute" to Larry King, a woman whose question to the internet has us worried about the future, an NYU professor who blames the GameStop stock frenzy on horny single men and the investment app that seemingly betrayed its own namesake.
Oh, and Casey Newton also preemptively declared "unruly mobs" to be the main character of 2021.
Saturday
Piers Morgan
The character: Piers Morgan, former CNN host and chief Wham! antagonist.
The plot: On Saturday, as news broke of Larry King's passing, Morgan tweeted out a, er, tribute to him that brought up their feud.
The repercussion: Morgan's crass testimonial to the broadcasting legend spurred widespread anger across the Twitterverse, with people lambasting him for making King's death all about himself.
After the backlash, Morgan attempted to defend himself, saying that King loved that joke and would've found the reaction to his tweet "ridiculous." He later deleted the tweet.
He also quote-tweeted someone who called his response to King's death "respectful."
Sunday
@tayvonia
The character: @tayvonia, an inquisitive Twitter user.
The plot: At most gas stations, there's a sign advising drivers to turn off their cars before pumping gas, but that hasn't stopped people from doing it, in spite of the fact that it's illegal in some states and, of course, the fact that you could blow yourself up.
On Sunday, @tayvonia posed a seemingly innocuous question to the internet asking if people shut off their engines when they pump gas.
The repercussion: Her question went viral and revealed a startling number of people who openly admit to keeping their cars on while pumping gas.
Wednesday
Scott Galloway
The character: Scott Galloway, a New York University Stern School of Business professor.
The plot: As Redditors' rush on GameStop stock upended Wall Street this week, financial experts were left scratching their heads trying to explain what had just happened. On Wednesday, Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at NYU, placed the blame squarely on male hormones.
"It's about sex," Galloway surmised. "Specifically, young men not having (enough) sex. Sex leads to relationships, obligations and guardrails (don't get in fights, we need you. Don't gamble your paycheck, we need to save for a house)."
The repercussion: Galloway's explanation that horny men were to blame for the GameStop stock chaos earned him a ratio of epic proportions.
Thursday
Robinhood
The character: Robinhood, an app that allows users to trade stocks without paying a fee.
The plot: On Thursday, Robinhood halted purchases of GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks due to "current market volatility."
The repercussion: Robinhood's move irked seemingly the entire internet, with people accusing them of betraying their namesake and stealing from the poor to give to the rich.
People also began digging up old tweets by the stock trading app that trumpeted themselves as the app of the people.
People also made numerous memes at the stock trading app's expense.
The company's move to limit trades even inspired rare bipartisanship among Congressional leaders, with both Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) decrying the action.
Robinhood also inspired Jon Stewart to join Twitter to defend the Reddit investors.
Eventually the company announced they would resume trading the stocks they had previously restricted but not before being hit with a class action lawsuit.
Read last week's edition of One Main Character, which includes a US Senator who thinks the Paris climate agreement was Paris's idea and a Congresswoman who wanted to impeach Joe Biden on his first day.
Did we miss a main character from this week? Please send tips to [email protected].
