Now it’s Facebook’s turn to talk about the trends it has seen over the course of 2011, and considering how many people are on Facebook, and how often they’re on it, this might be the most telling list yet of what has really been on people’s minds this year. Facebook calls it “memology”.
“This year’s top cultural trends — or memes — shed light on the more light hearted things people were discussing and sharing on Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson tells WebProNews. “For example, ‘planking,’ where you lie face down in usual locations, was one of the top memes on Facebook in 2011; ‘LMS’ or like my status and ‘TBH’ — to be honest were the new HMU. In the celebrity and music world, Megan Fox had the fastest growing Page and ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna and Calvin Harris was the most listened to song.”
“Memology takes the pulse of this global community by comparing this year’s status updates to last year’s, unearthing the most popular topics and cultural trends – or memes – emerging on Facebook,” says Facebook’s Jonathan Chang. “Whether it’s hmu, lms or tbh, each year brings a new set of three letter acronyms that go viral.”
Here’s what the top global topics looked like in 2011:
“As well as identifying the top ten global topics on Facebook, we also dug through the data to identify the top trending cultural phenomena for the year,” says Chang.
This includes planking, the use of “lms” and “tbh”, and the rise of music producer Skrillex:
Facebook also shared the following topic lists for 2011:
US Top 10 status trends
1. lms (like my status)
2. tbh (to be honest)
3. Death of Osama bin Laden
4. Charlie Sheen
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
6. Casey Anthony found not guilty
7. Packers win the Super Bowl
8. Hurricane Irene
9. Insidious (movie)
10. Death of Amy Winehouse
Fastest growing areas of interest on Facebook globally
Entertainment:
Actors and TV Personalities
1. Megan Fox
2. Vin Diesel
3. Adam Sandler
4. Selena Gomez
5. Will Smith
6. Taylor Lautner
7. Jackie Chan
8. Ashley Tisdale
9. DJ Pauly D
10. Kim Kardashian
Movies
1. Harry Potter
2. The Twilight Saga
3. Toy Story
4. Avatar
5. Jackass
6. Shrek
7. Saw
8. Pirates of the Caribbean
9. Fast &Furious
10. Titanic
TV Shows
1. House
2. Two and a Half Men
3. The Simpsons
4. Family Guy
5. South Park
6. Grey’s Anatomy
7. SpongeBob SquarePants
8. CSI: Miami
9. iCarly
10. The Big Bang Theory
Fictional Characters
1. Dr. House
2. Dory
3. Patrick Star
4. Mr. Bean
5. Upin & Ipin
6. Bob Esponja
7. Mario
8. Doraemon
9. Ari Gold
10. Sue Sylvester (GLEE)
Music:
Musicians
1. Rihanna
2. Bob Marley
3. Avril Lavigne
4. David Guetta
5. Enrique Iglesias
6. Usher
7. Lady Gaga
8. Metallica
9. Green Day
10. Black Eyed Peas
Most Listened To Songs
1. We Found Love – Rihanna and Calvin Harris
2. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) – Katy Perry
3. Sexy And I Know It – LMFAO
4. Titanium – David Guetta and Sia
5. First of the Year – Skrillex
6. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites – Skrillex
7. Without You – David Guetta and Usher
8. Stereo Hearts – Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine
9. Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
10. Someone Like You – Adele
Sports:
Athletes
1. Leo Messi
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
3. John Cena
4. Ricardo Kaka
5. David Beckham
6. Michael Jordan
7. Sachin Tendulkar
8. Andres Iniesta
9. Kobe Bryant
10. Cesc Fàbregas
Sports Teams
1. FC Barcelona
2. Real Madrid C.F.
3. Manchester United
4. LA Lakers
5. Chelsea Football Club
6. Liverpool FC
7. A.C. Milan
8. Arsenal
9. Galatasaray
10. Fenerbahce
News:
News Outlets
1. CNN
2. Fox News
3. NPR
4. The Onion
5. The New York Times
6. Al Jazeera Channel
7. Yahoo! News
8. The Times of India
9. BBC World News
10. PBS
Most Shared Articles
Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (New York Times)
What teachers really want to tell parents (CNN)
No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed (CNN)
Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps (CNN)
(video) – Father Daughter Dance Medley (Yahoo)
At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan (Yahoo)
You’ll freak when you see the new Facebook (CNN)
Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble (Yahoo)
Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines (Yahoo)
New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign? (The Huffington Post)
A couple of things that really stick out as really surprising from all of this data is that the movie Insidious made the top ten in the U.S. and that Avril Lavigne made the top 3 musicians globally. It’s not even about liking them. thought Insidious was OK, but it was more discussed on Facebook in the U.S. than the death of Steve Jobs? Really? I also find it interesting that our Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers were so high on the global list.
Here are some other year-end reflections:
Celebrities who joined Twitter in 2011
Twitter’s top topics and hashtags of 2011
Most search in 2011 – Yahoo
Most searched/aksed in 2011 – AOL and Ask
Most searched in 2011 – Bing