Twitter reveals hot topics of 2013

[WedgeAntilles]

Twitter reveals hot topics of 2013

AAP
Catherine Wylie December 12, 2013, 5:10 pm

A royal baby, a raunchy dance, a new pope, a boy band and the crowning of a tennis champion were just some of the UK's hot topics of conversation this year on Twitter.

The birth of the Prince of Cambridge in July, which was announced both on an easel at Buckingham Palace and on Twitter, sparked a frenzy of excitement on the social networking site which spread rapidly across the world.

A spike in conversation came in the minutes following the initial announcement, with more than 25,300 tweets per minute.

At the time, Twitter said the highest volumes of conversation came from the UK, the United States, Canada, France and Italy.

But although it got people talking, the announcement of the royal baby's birth failed to generate the same flurry of activity on social media as Andy Murray's historic Wimbledon victory earlier in the month which amassed 120,000 tweets per minute, or the election of Pope Francis in March which sparked a massive 132,000 tweets per minute.

While the election of a new pontiff may be a centuries-old process it captured the imagination of the modern age - prompting seven million mentions on Twitter.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Rome for the historic event, while millions more trained their eyes on the Sistine Chapel from afar and flooded the internet with updates.

Cardinal of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio's election dominated online discussion to such a degree that it became the subject of eight of the top 10 trending topics at one point, according to Twitter.

Twerking - the risque dance move made famous by US star Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards in August - became a sensation both offline and on Twitter.

Cyrus, her twerking and her foam finger prop took the site by storm as people expressed mainly shock and disapproval.

Prince George was not the only baby to be the centre of attention with micro-bloggers this year, as the birth of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter was also hotly gossiped about during the summer.

Fans of the American couple eagerly awaited the latest news on Twitter after Kardashian's sister Khloe appeared to let the word slip when she tweeted about the "miracle" that had become part of their family.

The baby's name North West was also much scoffed at on the social networking site.