Twitter has revealed the hottest topics and hashtags of the year in what is pretty much a perfect snapshot of the world in 2011 as seen through the eyes of the 300m Twitter users globally.
According to the list, the top-ranking hashtag of 2011 was #egypt, reflecting the tumultuous events in that country amidst the social media-led revolution by the people.
#egypt was followed by #tigerblood, which was used to follow actor Charlie Sheen’s public meltdown earlier this year. Other top hashtags included #threewordstoliveby, #idontunderstandwhy, #japan, #improudtosay, #superbowl and #jan25.
In terms of world news, Hosni Mubarak’s resignation led the charts, followed by the raid on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Japanese earthquake, the shooting of US politician Gabrielle Giffords, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s death and swine flu outbreak.
The top trending topics in television were Pretty Little Liars, Two and a Half Men, The Craigslist Killer, the Golden Globe Awards and the People’s Choice Awards. Top movies to trend by topic were Thor, The Dark Knight Rises, X-Men: First Class, Fast Five and Green Hornet.
The top trending technology topics of the year, according to Twitter, were Mac App Store, Sony NGP, Guitar Hero, Mozilla Firefox, Duke Nukem Forever, iPad, iPhone, Nintendo 3DS, Mortal Kombat and iPod.
Musically, Rebecca Black and her song Friday topped the music topic charts, followed by Nate Dogg, Femme Fatale, Gerry Rafferty and Gil Scott-Heron.
Soccer-wise, Wayne Rooney topped the charts, followed by Fernando Torres, Howard Webb, Wembley Stadium and ColoColo. In terms of American football, Dallas led the field of top trending topics followed by Superbowl MMXI, Jim Harbaugh and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Elizabeth Taylor’s death put her among the top trending actresses, followed by Mila Kunis, Anne Hathaway, Raven Symone and Natalie Portman.
Sheen was the top actor by topic, followed by Macaulay Culkin, Ryan Dunn, Ricky Gervais and the late Pete Postlethwaite.
