(The Root) — When Facebook announced Instagram’s video service, users across Twitter and Facebook heralded what they saw as the inevitable death of Vine, Twitter’s video-sharing app. They may have been on to something. Marketing Land reports that though Instagram video has only been around less than two weeks, its number of shares on Twitter…

(The Root) — Don West’s poor taste seems to run in the family. The defense attorney for George Zimmerman tried to make us laugh with an ill-conceived knock-knock joke at the top of the trial, but sadly fell flat on his face. Now he’s catching heat for a picture that he took, later shared by…

(The Root) — Photos of the late Trayvon Martin’s body, broadcast during television coverage of the trial of the man accused of killing him, fell into the wrong hands and ended up on a slew of hateful Facebook pages. A page entitled RIPTRAYTRA, containing memes of Trayvon’s postmortem body photoshopped in various scenes and situations,…

(The Root) — Folks on Twitter had a strong reaction to the testimony of Jonathan Good, a man claiming to have seen the fight between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin on that fateful night. Good testified today that it was Trayvon who was on top of Zimmerman before the shot was fired. He also claimed…

(The Root) — In the midst of tensions running high over Rachel Jeantel’s testimony in the George Zimmerman murder trial, track star Lolo Jones managed to secure a piece of the outrage for herself after making a tasteless joke at Jeantel’s expense. Jeantel, a friend of the late Trayvon Martin and the last person to…

(The Root) — Viewers of the George Zimmerman trial were shocked to hear that Rachel Jeantel, the prosecution’s star witness, cannot read or write in cursive. But surprise! Most schools don’t even teach kids to write in cursive anymore. Back in April, the New York Times published an op-ed entitled “Handwriting Matters; Cursive Doesn’t” that…

(The Root) — The Internet is squealing over Michelle Obama’s brand-new Instagram account. FLOTUS posted her first picture today, signed “-mo,” indicating that she posted it herself, as she does on Twitter. She is currently chronicling the first family’s trip to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania and is using Instagram’s new video feature, too. I’m…

(The Root) — The George Zimmerman murder trial has captured the nation’s attention since it began. When Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak with Trayvon Martin (aside from Zimmerman), took the stand, it ignited a dialogue on race, class and the cultural shaming of our own. Many people have been very critical of the…

(The Root) — Another day, another public relations nightmare for disgraced and recently fired Food Network star Paula Deen. She has had a target on her back since it was revealed last week that she has said and done some pretty racist things in the past, resulting in a lawsuit, several hilarious Twitter hashtags and a cringe-inducing…

(The Root) — The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was enacted in 1996 and bans the federal government from recognizing state-granted same-sex marriages. That ban has been officially ruled unconstitutional. After a week of tense news and rulings —…