Facebook, Twitter report record figures for Super Bowl 49 posts

Data from Facebook and Twitter has revealed record amounts of activity across both social networks during the Super Bowl.

While the event is about as American as you can hope to get, but global interest in the event is growing rapidly. Small wonder then that Super Bowl 49, which the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots contested, was the biggest and most talked about Super Bowl in Facebook history.

Facebook has revealed that more than 65-million people (15-million more than last year) took to the social network to discuss the Super Bowl, conjuring up 265 million posts, comments, and likes.

Facebook measured its engagement by the number of people who took to its network to talk about a specific event. After New England Patriots were named winners, Facebook saw 1.36 million people per minute engaging in social activity.

Singer Katy Perry’s finale during the half-time show and a third-quarter pass giving the Seahawks a 10-point lead generated activity by 1-million and 701 000 people per minute, respectively. Malcolm Butler’s pass interception meanwhile had 676 000 people per minute heading to the social network to share their thoughts.

Read more: Dear Kitten: Buzzfeed’s pre-Superbowl ad is totally adorable

Twitter issued a similar report, claiming that Super Bowl 49 was “the most tweeted” Super Bowl of all time, reaching more than 28.4 million tweets during the game and halftime show, attracting more than 3.5 million more tweets than last year’s.

According to Twitter, the biggest moment from the Super Bowl was when Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass at the end of the game. This play alone generating 395 000 tweets per minute. Mention of the New England actually winning the game prompted 379 000 tweets per minute. Katy Perry’s halftime performance generated 284 000 tweets per minute.

The Super Bowl is also characterised by its ad revenue. Fiat 500X crossover got traction with its “Viagra ad” so did Chevy with its brilliant ad for its new truck Colorado. YouTube reports that people have spent nearly four million hours watching game-day ads and teaser videos on the platform. Up from 2.2 million hours from last year. Budweiser has the top spot in top-trending ads on YouTube with its “Lost Dog” spot, followed by Bud Light with its “Real Life PacMan” commercial.

The Super Bowl is without a doubt an opportunity for companies to make money. Facebook and Twitter, do not reveal these figures for the sake of it. It helps them attract advertisers, proving to them that advertising on these social networks during such events enables companies to reach a wide audience that for the duration of the game is undistracted by other things.