Twitter’s 12 months in evaluate is much less bleak than you’d assume

Possibly 2020 wasn’t such a nasty 12 months in spite of everything.

Whereas YouTube skipped its notorious Rewind this 12 months, claiming it was out of sensitivity for the tumultuous occasions of 2020, Twitter hasn’t seen the identical backlash — and summed up 2020 with the tag #ThisHappened.

In a blog post Monday, the corporate highlighted the 12 months’s most preferred tweets, prime trending hashtags, most retweeted customers, and most used emoji.

The highest hashtag of 2020, unsurprisingly, was #COVID19. The second hottest hashtag this 12 months was #BlackLivesMatter, which correlates with the historic protests in opposition to racial inequality and police brutality following the loss of life of George Floyd. The tag #StayHome got here in third as customers the world over inspired one another to proceed social distancing in an effort to curb the unfold of the coronavirus. 

George Floyd was additionally the third most tweeted-about individual in 2020. He died when Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee in opposition to Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and ignored Floyd’s insistence that he could not breathe. His loss of life impressed protests and compelled establishments the world over to grapple with systemic racism. 

The primary and second most tweeted-about individuals have been President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash earlier this 12 months, was the fourth most tweeted-about individual, adopted by former president Barack Obama and Ok-pop sensation BTS. 

The most well-liked emoji this 12 months included the tears of pleasure emoji and the crying emoji, which appears acceptable given the state of the world. The pleading eyes emoji, now often known as the simp emoji, got here in third. 

Regardless of the largely tragic occasions of this 12 months, Twitter famous that customers had a “renewed sense of gratitude and help for our communities.” In 2020, tweets expressing gratitude elevated by 20 % globally, with due to docs and lecturers up by 135 % and 30 %, respectively. The phrases “important staff” and “frontline staff” have been tweeted greater than 17 million occasions. 

With out additional ado, listed below are the 5 most preferred tweets of 2020. 

Essentially the most preferred tweets of the 12 months:

1. The announcement of Chadwick Boseman’s loss of life 

2. Barack Obama paying tribute to Kobe Bryant

3. A snarky hat tip to astronauts 

4. Macaulay Culkin celebrating his birthday

5. Kamala Harris’ now-viral victory name

You’ll be able to learn Twitter’s full rundown of this 12 months here.