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People on Twitter are revealing the first time they saw 'themselves' on screen.

Lieutenant Uhura in "Star Trek." Tia and Tamera from "Sister, Sister." Susie Carmichael on "The Rugrats."

Twitter users are chiming in with stories of the first time they felt represented by a character on-screen, using the hashtag #FirstTimeISawMe

The trending hashtag is part of a multimedia campaign launched by Netflix to promote its "diverse, layered and intersectional content," including Marvel's "Luke Cage" and "Dear White People."


Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images.

"Seeing someone that looks like you and deals with similar things that you have to deal with is powerful because you inevitably feel like you can conquer your issues once you see someone else on-screen do it first," Netflix spokesperson Myles Worthington writes in an email.

Many who posted to the hashtag noted the powerful impact that certain iconic characters — from princesses to Power Rangers — had on them as young children.

Characters like Static Shock, with fully fleshed out personalities, interests, and skills — particularly nerdy ones — received lots of praise.

Others, like Sulu from "Star Trek," even helped some Twitter users figure out what they wanted to do later in life.

Some pointed out that they're still waiting to see themselves fully represented.

With the ratings success of programming like FOX's "Empire" and ABC's Shonda Rhimes universe, both the small and large screen have diversified in recent years, though some would like to see the process speed up.

"I think it’s still slow going, but it’s getting better — depending on what you watch," Constance Gibbs of Black Girl Nerds, who collaborated on a video for the campaign, wrote in a blog post. "If you watch Netflix or ABC or even somewhat the CW, you may see someone who looks like you (but maybe not as a lead character). But if you watch a network like CBS, you probably won’t — no matter who you are."

CBS recently found itself mired in twin controversies after announcing a fall season with no female-helmed shows and after two Asian-American actors left long-running "Hawaii Five-O," citing pay discrepancies with their white cast-mates.

Gibbs noted, approvingly, that networks have featured more fully characterized dark-skinned black women on screen in recent years, in shows such as Netflix's "Chewing Gum" and ABC's "Still Star-Crossed" and hopes the networks continue to spread the opportunity around.

"There are many who are still waiting for that first burst of authentic representation," she writes over email.

Netflix hopes the campaign will emphasize its commitment to this growing trend.

"We don’t have advertisers to think of, or specific time slots to consider, or a cap on the amount of shows we can create," Worthington says. "If we uncover a unique story that we think our members will enjoy, we can bring it to life."

Uncover enough of them, and perhaps today's kids won't have to start an appreciative hashtag on the social network of tomorrow.

Though we're always here for more Power Rangers GIFs.

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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It's incredible what a double-sided magnet can do.


A new trend in treasure hunting called magnet fishing has blown up over the past two years, evidenced by an explosion of YouTube channels covering the hobby. Magnet fishing is a pretty simple activity. Hobbyists attach high-powered magnets to strong ropes, drop them into waterways and see what they attract.

The hobby has caught the attention of law enforcement and government agencies because urban waterways are a popular place for criminals to drop weapons and stolen items after committing a crime. In 2019, a magnet fisherman in Michigan pulled up an antique World War I mortar grenade and the bomb squad had to be called out to investigate.


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Pop Culture

Woman was mocked online for calling an $80 purse a 'luxury item.' Her response went viral.

"I'm so grateful that my dad was able to get me one. He worked so hard for that money.”

@zohtaco/TikTok

Zoe Gabriel, showing off her new purse from Charles & Keith

Insults of any kind are painful, but jabs towards someone’s financial status are their own breed.

In January 2023, Singapore-based Zoe Gabriel was on the receiving end of this particular flavor of mockery when she posted a TikTok about a purse from local retail brand Charles & Keith—a gift bought for her by her father.

In her excitement, the 17-year-old called the bag, which costs around $80, a “luxury” item as she unwrapped it. Her excitement was sadly cut short by some of the negative comments she received.

One comment seemed to stand out above the rest and prompted Gabriel to post an emotional response video.

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Ring doorbell video captures what it's like to be the default parent.

Kids, man. I'm not sure of the scientific way audacity is distributed, but kids have a lot of it and somehow make it cute. That audacity overload is especially interesting when you're the default parent—you know, the parent kids go to for literally everything as if there's not another fully capable adult in the house. Chances are if your children haven't sought you out while you were taking a shower so you could open up a pack of fruit snacks, then you're not the default parental unit.

One parent captured exactly what it's like to be the default parent and shared it to TikTok, where the video has over 4 million views. Toniann Marchese went on a quick grocery run and *gasp* did not inform her children. Don't you fret, they're modern kids who know how to use modern means to get much-needed answers when mom is nowhere to be found. They went outside and rang the doorbell.

Back when we were children, this would've done nothing but make the dogs bark, but for Marchese's kids, who are 3 and 6 years old, it's as good as a phone call.

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Pop Culture

'American Idol' contestant has perfect response to Katy Perry's 'mom-shaming' joke

The 25-year-old used the moment to stand up for moms everywhere.

@sarabethliebe/TikTok

"Keep loving your babies."

You might recall us singing the praises of Sara Beth, the exuberant young mom with major vocal chops dubbed the “Accidental American Idol.”

During Sara Beth’s initial audition for the show, judge Katy Perry made a joke that rubbed many viewers the wrong way.

Before Sara Beth even began to sing, the 25-year-old revealed that she had three children, which prompted Katy Perry to dramatically stand up from her seat and feign shock. When Sara Beth, all smiles, said, “If Katy lays on the table, I think I’m going to pass out,” Perry retorted, “Honey, you’ve been laying on the table too much.”

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YouTube creator Steve Mould shows us what echo looks like through an acoustic camera.

It’s bizarre to think about seeing sound, but nowadays we can do just that. If you haven’t seen an acoustic camera before, that’s because they’re mainly used for industrial purposes, but they’ve been available commercially from gfai tech since 2001.

YouTuber Steve Mould, who has a science channel with over 2.1 million subscribers, took the complicated concept of the acoustic camera and made it easy to understand in his latest video, “Acoustic cameras can SEE sound.”

In the video, Mould explains how an acoustic camera is much like your smartphone's video recorder. But it also creates visual representations of sound emanating from where it’s generated within the video.

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