#matt stopera

[watchingmoviesandshit]

Brother Orange (2025)

[dearpeopleonthesubway]

Dear people on the subway,

Let's read about this guy's phone getting stolen!

Love, me

[dannymoallem-blog]

Week 12

I thought the most interesting part of this week’s readings was in Bill Wasik’s article where he described the paradox of technology in our society. He says that all of our devices are here to keep us out of crowds and out of meeting with people face-to-face. With everything from dating apps to online shopping apps, we technically don’t need to leave our houses. However, when we really want to, all of our technology ironically can work to bring us all together. 

I think a really cool example of this is the experience of Matt Stopera from BuzzFeed. In an article on BuzzFeed entitled, “I followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend for Life,” he chronicled this very strange journey. Here’s a quick summary of the article, but the real one is DEFINITELY worth a read:

So one day, a YEAR after his phone was stolen from a bar, he noticed weird pics showing up on his new phone.

Apparently most stolen phones end up in China and are sold in second hand stores. He goes to the Apple store and they solve the problem -- his stolen phone is in China and the man was still logged into his iCloud account. So the apple store bricks the phone and that’s the end of it...or so he thinks.

Matt posted an article on BuzzFeed called “Who Is This Man And Why Are His Photos Showing Up On My Phone” Within hours of this post, he begins getting tweets from people in China. The BuzzFeed story was translated and posted on Weibo, which is the Chinese equivalent of Facebook. Here are some of the tweets he received:

At one point, this guy became the #1 trending topic on Weibo!

Long story short, the Weibo community helped track down the strange man in the pictures, who was appropriately dubbed by the Weibo community as “Brother Orange” for the pictures that the man took in front of the orange tree. Eventually, Matt flew to China to meet the man and was welcomed with superstardom. People in China just loved the story! This is a pic of him being greeted at the airport and meeting Brother Orange -- absolutely insane!

Matt spent the next week touring China, doing press conferences, media events, kissing babies, you name it. And he also made a best friend for life.

The significance that this story holds is that it is completely unique to our time period. Something like this would never have even been fathomable at all before 10 years ago. It shows that even though technology and social media work to keep us in our houses away from interacting with people, it also can work in the complete opposite way and help to bring people together.

[hyyperlic-blog]

Brother Orange und Matt, eine Geschichte die nur das Internet schreiben kann

#BrotherOrange und @MattStopera, eine Geschichte die nur das Internet schreiben kann

“Thank you, Steve Jobs!” ist ein Satz ziemlich am Ende einer einmaligen Geschichte, der verdeutlicht dass ohne Steve Jobsvieles heutzutage vielleicht gar nicht so present und normal wäre. Angefangen hat alles mit dem ersten iPhone 2007 welches den Weg für den mobilen Internetzugriff massiv beeinflusste und ebnete. Heutzutage ist fast jeder im Besitz eines Smartphone und diese sind randvoll mit…

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[mslittlefickle]

12. That time of the semester where every waking-second not spent being productive slowly but surely builds up into a panic attack

1. After a recent turn of events, involving a whole lot more nights out than chill days, it looks like I have to begrudgingly admit the power of the social network and exchange of ideas (Although there is still a teeny tiny part of me that is stubbornly holding out!). 

2. Despite my recent aberrant and exhausting interest in socialization, I have also reluctantly acquiesced to becoming a Twitter data collection robot and a data entry laborer. Looking at the amount of data yet to be entered and analyzed, I am almost fairly certain that my thesis will be done using strictly qualitative methods. 

3. In totally unrelated news, BRO ORANGE AND MATT HAVE REUNITED IN LA!! Not quite sure why, but updates from these two always manage to bring a smile on my face. Maybe it’s because they are a constant reminder that there is so much more to life outside of research papers, team meetings, and wondering how on earth I’m going to pay the next tuition bill. 

[hannahboyntonforshaw]

I Followed My Stolen iPhone Across The World, Became A Celebrity In China, And Found A Friend For Life | Matt Stopera

This really weird thing happened to me. Then it got even weirder. Then it turned insane. Do I have a story for you. [This is the epic continuation of “How I Became a Minor Celebrity in China.&…

[dimestorefind]

Buzzfeed staffer Matt Stopera's fantastical story about how his stolen iPhone made it from Manhattan to China and turned him into a social media celebrity there is one of the wildest and coolest stolen phone stories of all time, even if it's making the rounds on April Fool's Day. Read the rest

via Boing Boing