Ahmed Mohamed to Odin Camus: Social media's hard luck-to-happy ending stories
Remember Dancing Man and #FindKatie? Social media mob can also bring out best in people
Support for technology whiz Ahmed Mohamed poured in from across social media this week – but the Texas teen's story certainly isn't the only one that began with hard luck and turned into a happy ending.
Earlier this week, the Texas teen's homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb, prompting a call to police from the school. He was arrested, later released with no charges and then became a social media sensation. A slew of invitations, from retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and even the White House, ensued.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
—@POTUSWe've rounded up a few other stories that turned from bad to good through social media:
1. Dancing Man
Remember Sean O'Brien? He's better known as Dancing Man, a gentleman from Liverpool, England, who got fat-shamed on Twitter after dancing at a concert.
That nasty tweet caught the attention of a group of women in the U.S., setting off a chain reaction that started with #FindDancingMan and ended with a shameless dance party in Los Angeles with O'Brien as the guest of honour in May.
The party also raised $70,000 for anti-cyberbullying campaigns in the U.S. and England, Time Magazine reported. The Dance Free Movement, which organized the party, released a short and stirring documentary about O'Brien on Thursday.
2. Free trip around the world
When Jordan Axani and his girlfriend broke up shortly before their trip around the world, he found himself stuck with an extra plane ticket. Instead of paying the fees to change the ticket, Axani took to Reddit and offered it up to a new travel companion for free – provided she was Canadian and shared his ex-girlfriend's name, Elizabeth Gallagher.
Axani set off with a 23-year-old student from Cole Harbour, N.S., on Dec. 21, hitting New York City before visiting Milan, Paris, Prague and Hong Kong in a whirlwind three weeks. While there was much online musing about the possibility of romance budding between the two travellers, both said they became like brother and sister.
Inspired by the experience, Axani started the charity A Ticket Forward, hoping to give "deserving" people a chance to travel. But the organization has since changed its direction, and now plans to send high school students to mentorship conferences in urban centres.
3. Tripped refugee gets job in Spain
A video this week showing a Hungarian camerawoman tripping a Syrian refugee running from police sparked outrage online. But that attention has since brought the Syrian man in the clip, Osama Abdul Mohsen, a job offer to teach at a soccer school in Madrid, the New York Times reported.
The school has arranged to rent an apartment for Mohsen, a professional soccer coach in his home country, and to help him apply for refugee status in order to bring his wife and other children from Turkey, the Times wrote.
4. Odin's birthday party
Thirteen became a lucky number for Odin Camus, despite the fact his birthday began with no one responding to invitations for his party.
His mother then issued a Facebook plea to other Peterborough, Ont., parents asking them to send birthday messages to her son's new cellphone.
Soon, thousands began tweeting and texting Odin, including Elijah Wood, and Toronto's NBA team the Raptors and MLB team the Blue Jays. Dozens of people crammed into the Peterborough bowling alley to celebrate with Odin when he arrived in a limousine for his party.
"It's just absolutely, truly amazing," a beaming Odin said March 20.
5. Love at first flight
Irishman Jamie Kelly thought he met the girl of his dreams on a plane from Barcelona to Dublin in July 2014. So when he lost track of her in baggage claim, he turned to Twitter to #FindKatie, a Canadian girl with whom he had "hit it off" during a Ryanair flight.
Social media came through – and Kelly and Katie Moreau reunited for a so-called dream date in Ireland. The Riverport, N.S., woman said she was flattered by the attention, but found the response a bit overwhelming.
