Barbenheimer and X: A Week of Successes and Potential Failures

Hey Hackers,

Unless you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve probably kept up with the Barbenheimer, Musk, and Blue Bird disputes. Let's dive into it! \

The Barbenheimer Showdown

Oppenheimer, centered on the development of the first atomic bomb, starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Christopher Nolan, and Barbie, the colorful coming-of-age story exploring the iconic doll's identity, have exceeded expectations, becoming this year's best-selling movies.

In the premiere weekend alone, Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, Barbie, scored US$377m worldwide, making it the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman. Could this signal a shift in public interest away from remakes and sequels? Share your thoughts here.

Concomitantly, strikes have been bursting all over Hollywood, with workers now demanding better conditions and protesting against a future controlled by AI. Could the success of Barbenheimer provide further support for human artists?

Moreover, Hollywood's momentum against AI raises questions: How much can AI impact the movie industry and the careers of its workers? Could viewers be on the verge of seeing their data sold for the creative profit of streaming services and Hollywood? Tell us what you think about it here.

Bye Bye Birdy

In other news, Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X, killing off the blue bird logo. As Twitter ditches its iconic branding, its open-source rival Mastodon is seeing usage numbers soar. According to a new post from Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko, the number of monthly active users for his Twitter alternative has been steadily climbing over the past couple of months to have now reached 2.1 million. If these numbers indicate something, it’s that Mastodon's growth often seems to be tied to Twitter's moves — or rather, its missteps.

How do you think Twitter's rebranding will impact the social network? Are Musk and Zuckerberg slowly leading each other into oblivion with their decisions, or are their missteps just a consequence of managing massive platforms with millions of users? Share your insights here.

The Weekly Writing Tip

Picking the topic of your next story can be challenging. You may think about tech, but technology has many subjects to write about: AI, JAVA, open-source, etc. The options are endless. When in doubt, check out HackerNoon tags - if it exists on the website, it’s probably a good topic to discuss. For more information, check out our help section.

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Although that is our minimum, we only want to publish pieces of 800 words or more. If you’re going to write something under 800 words, it better be the best 799 words we’ve read all week. If it isn’t, we will reject it and ask you to write more to add value to the piece.

If you need help staying on track, consider applying to our blogging fellowship.

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That’s all, folks! Have a productive day, and we’re looking forward to reading your next story.\

Cheers,

The HackerNoon Editorial Team