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Twitter has released its annual analysis of tweets.
The Paris terror attacks, America’s legalization of same-sex marriage and Bruce Jenner’s transformation to Caitlyn sent people rushing to Twitter over the past year.
The microblogging site published on Sunday its annual analysis of the top tweets, trends and hashtags from the past year.
The diversity of the 2015 topics underscores Twitter’s role as a soapbox for people’s passions about politics, news, entertainment, sports and, well, gossip. As always, breaking news spreads quickly on Twitter, which then acts as a public forum for thoughts, riffs and self-expression in 140-character tidbits and short videos. The site itself has tried to tap into that interest by introducing in the fall the Moments feature, which highlights trending events in the hopes of triggering conversations and driving more traffic.
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Among the most influential topics this year were the November terrorist attacks in Paris, with people adopting the hashtag #PrayForParis to show their support for those affected by the violence. #BlackLivesMatter was another popular hashtag that represented concerns over police violence on African-Americans, while #MarriageEquality marked interest in the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US and in Ireland.
Some of the most retweeted tweets from the year included President Obama’s endorsement of the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize gay marriage, the last message from the late “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy and the first message from Jenner introducing herself on Twitter as a woman.
In the world of technology, the top trending topics revealed interest in Apple’s iPad and iPhone, music app SoundCloud, Google’s Android software and live-video app Periscope.
Emojis found their way into Twitter’s zeitgeist for 2015. The most popular emoji this past year was one with tears of joy streaming down its face.
“As always, the world united this year in moments of triumph, activism, support, and fascination,” the company said in a blog post Sunday, “and Twitter is where we gathered for all of it.”
