Reflecting as you do at the end of one year and at the start of the new, the hottest topics on Twitter in 2009 make an interesting snapshot of what people took time out on Twitter to send messages, start conversations and spread content.
If you glance over some of the top topics on the Twitter list, you see popular media stories like Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and topics like Google Wave and the Iran Election. Mostly though it is quite superficial and populist. Is Twitter just a reflection of western societies popular TV culture where it’s just about the glamour and the gloss for most part. An article in one of Australia’s top newspapers by James Harkin says “Far from delivering a ”wisdom of crowds”, social networking sites create only a deafening banality”. An article I wrote called “Debunking The “Twitter Is 40% Pointless Babble” Survey also dicusses this in more detail from another perspective.
So here are the top topics for 2009 as seen by Twitter and the Twitter application Klout on what were consuming people’s interest on Twitter.
“Among all the keywords, hashtags, and phrases that proliferated throughout the year, one topic surfaced repeatedly. Twitter users found the Iranian elections the most engaging topic of the year. The terms #iranelection, Iran and Tehran were all in the top-21 of Trending Topics, and #iranelection finished in a close second behind the regular weekly favorite #musicmonday.
These are Twitter’s “Top Trending Topics” across several categories—an interesting time capsule of what was happening as this decade came to a close.”
“Social media tools like Twitter exploded in 2009 so people could discuss…social media. Lifestyle topics dominate the list, reflecting the community’s preference for entertainment and media, and, apparently dogs. The conversation shows signs of maturing, however, with strong growth in both “Iran” and “Healthcare Reform,” proving that social media can also be socially aware, and establishing its potential as an instrument of change.”
So is Twitter growing up or is it just “deafening banality”? Like to hear your view.
1. #iranelection
2. Swine Flu
3. Gaza
4. Iran
5. Tehran
6. #swineflu
7. AIG
8. #uksnow
9. Earth Hour
10. #inaug09People
1. Michael Jackson
2. Susan Boyle
3. Adam Lambert
4. Kobe (Bryant)
5. Chris Brown
6. Chuck Norris
7. Joe Wilson
8. Tiger Woods
9. Christian Bale
10. A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez)Movies
1. Harry Potter
2. New Moon
3. District 9
4. Paranormal Activity
5. Star Trek
6. True Blood
7. Transformers 2
8. Watchmen
9. Slumdog Millionaire
10. G.I. Joe
TV Shows
1. American Idol
2. Glee
3. Teen Choice Awards
4. SNL (Saturday Night Live)
5. Dollhouse
6. Grey’s Anatomy
7. VMAS (Video Music Awards)
8. #bsg (Battlestar Galatica)
9. BET Awards
10. Lost
Sports (Teams, Events, Leagues)
1. Super Bowl
2. Lakers
3. Wimbledon
4. Cavs (Cleveland Cavaliers)
5. Superbowl
6. Chelsea
7. NFL
8. UFC 100
9. Yankees
10. Liverpool
Technology
1. Google Wave
2. Snow Leopard
3. Tweetdeck
4. Windows 7
5. CES
6. Palm Pre
7. Google Latitude
8. #E3
9. #amazonfail
10. Macworld
Hash Tags
1. #musicmonday
2. #iranelection
3. #sxsw
4. #swineflu
5. #nevertrust
6. #mm
7. #rememberwhen
8. #3drunkwords
9. #unacceptable
10. #iwish