Princess
14-12-2010, 12:20 PM
Facebook today revealed the UK’s list of top trends in status updates in the UK, giving a unique insight into the sporting, TV and cultural moments which prompted national conversations.
The Facebook Memeology study looked at what terms grew the most in status updates in 2010 compared to the year before. It reflects the politics, pop stars and events which captured the imagination of the 26 million UK Facebook users based upon the content and status updates that they shared with friends and family across the site throughout 2010.
Topping the list...
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the event that captured the imagination of the nation was the World Cup, which was discussed over 3 million times. Subjects that divided opinion did well – with the vuvuzela rising rapidly up Facebook’s list of popular status update phrases in 2010.
Sport
Sport was a key interest – the leading sportsperson was Wayne Rooney, whose prolonged contract negotiation led to enormous levels of discussion on Facebook. Rooney was trailed by his England colleagues Joe Cole, Emile Heskey, John Terry and Rob Green, whose World Cup calamity led him to Facebook infamy as it was discussed by thousands of people.
X-Factor
In the worlds of music and entertainment X-Factor was king. While booted out early, the Brazilian Wagner led other contestants, with a number of supportive groups and pages driving discussion of Wagner past that of Prime Minister David Cameron, despite 2010 being an election year. The next most discussed X-Factor contestants were Cher Lloyd, One Direction and Matt Cardle.
Music
Facebook has always been a place where people share the music they love with friends, and 2010 was no exception. If a Facebook music chart were to exist without X-Factor, it would undoubtably be topped by Tinie Tempah, with The Wanted and Ellie Goulding some distance behind.
Television
Increasingly, Facebook has become a mirror that reflects the opinions of millions on popular subjects. Whilst TV may be the way that people unwind in the evening, it is quickly becoming a more social experience. The dominance of some TV shows in 2010’s Facebook words prove how the UK is becoming a two screen nation, where people watch TV but use their laptop or smartphone at the same time to share their views about the shows with their friends on Facebook.
The TV shows Celebrity Juice and The Only Way Is Essex captured the imaginations of people on Facebook, while the participants in the final series of Big Brother, including John James and Josie Gibson, driving a substantial amount of discussion – no other contestants came close.
Politics and poppies
People on Facebook didn’t just discuss music, TV and sports however – the year’s discussion was heavily influenced by more serious subjects, particularly politics and the general election. Despite Nick Clegg’s rapid surge in Facebook support prior to the election, it was David Cameron who attracted the most attention from people on Facebook. The Conservative party led the Liberal Democrats by a slim margin, despite the Lib Dems attracting more people to their fan page during the election period. Facebook was also used by many people to express support for British troops fighting overseas, with a surge in conversations encouraging people to purchase a poppy in the run up to Remembrance Sunday.
And the weather...
It is a common adage that British people talk of little else other than the weather – but despite one of the coldest winters on record, generally weather didn’t appear in Facebook discussion. The only weather phenomenon which inspired discussion was April’s Ash Could which rapidly became one of the most discussed subjects across the platform as friends used Facebook to keep in touch as Europe’s transport network shut down.
How did we get this data?
To conduct this year’s list of popular memes and discussion topics, Facebook aggregated status updates from 26 million people using the site in the UK and conducted an analysis of the most frequently used terms. All personally identifiable data was removed from the status updates to conduct this analysis.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1215.snc4/156716_486991328888_370142048888_5775854_4839420_n .jpg
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=168540779851100&comments
The Facebook Memeology study looked at what terms grew the most in status updates in 2010 compared to the year before. It reflects the politics, pop stars and events which captured the imagination of the 26 million UK Facebook users based upon the content and status updates that they shared with friends and family across the site throughout 2010.
Topping the list...
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the event that captured the imagination of the nation was the World Cup, which was discussed over 3 million times. Subjects that divided opinion did well – with the vuvuzela rising rapidly up Facebook’s list of popular status update phrases in 2010.
Sport
Sport was a key interest – the leading sportsperson was Wayne Rooney, whose prolonged contract negotiation led to enormous levels of discussion on Facebook. Rooney was trailed by his England colleagues Joe Cole, Emile Heskey, John Terry and Rob Green, whose World Cup calamity led him to Facebook infamy as it was discussed by thousands of people.
X-Factor
In the worlds of music and entertainment X-Factor was king. While booted out early, the Brazilian Wagner led other contestants, with a number of supportive groups and pages driving discussion of Wagner past that of Prime Minister David Cameron, despite 2010 being an election year. The next most discussed X-Factor contestants were Cher Lloyd, One Direction and Matt Cardle.
Music
Facebook has always been a place where people share the music they love with friends, and 2010 was no exception. If a Facebook music chart were to exist without X-Factor, it would undoubtably be topped by Tinie Tempah, with The Wanted and Ellie Goulding some distance behind.
Television
Increasingly, Facebook has become a mirror that reflects the opinions of millions on popular subjects. Whilst TV may be the way that people unwind in the evening, it is quickly becoming a more social experience. The dominance of some TV shows in 2010’s Facebook words prove how the UK is becoming a two screen nation, where people watch TV but use their laptop or smartphone at the same time to share their views about the shows with their friends on Facebook.
The TV shows Celebrity Juice and The Only Way Is Essex captured the imaginations of people on Facebook, while the participants in the final series of Big Brother, including John James and Josie Gibson, driving a substantial amount of discussion – no other contestants came close.
Politics and poppies
People on Facebook didn’t just discuss music, TV and sports however – the year’s discussion was heavily influenced by more serious subjects, particularly politics and the general election. Despite Nick Clegg’s rapid surge in Facebook support prior to the election, it was David Cameron who attracted the most attention from people on Facebook. The Conservative party led the Liberal Democrats by a slim margin, despite the Lib Dems attracting more people to their fan page during the election period. Facebook was also used by many people to express support for British troops fighting overseas, with a surge in conversations encouraging people to purchase a poppy in the run up to Remembrance Sunday.
And the weather...
It is a common adage that British people talk of little else other than the weather – but despite one of the coldest winters on record, generally weather didn’t appear in Facebook discussion. The only weather phenomenon which inspired discussion was April’s Ash Could which rapidly became one of the most discussed subjects across the platform as friends used Facebook to keep in touch as Europe’s transport network shut down.
How did we get this data?
To conduct this year’s list of popular memes and discussion topics, Facebook aggregated status updates from 26 million people using the site in the UK and conducted an analysis of the most frequently used terms. All personally identifiable data was removed from the status updates to conduct this analysis.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1215.snc4/156716_486991328888_370142048888_5775854_4839420_n .jpg
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=168540779851100&comments