Facebook’s Year In Review is finally published on the company’s press portal, and it makes for interesting reading for South Africans and the greater international community.
According to Facebook data analyst Sheida Neman, the most talked about moments in the world in 2016 included the US Presidential Election (rather obviously) in first place, with “Brazilian Politics” and Pokemon Go rounding up the podium.
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They are followed by:
- Black Lives Matter
- Rodrigo Duterte & Philippine Presidential Election
- Olympics
- Brexit
- Super Bowl
- David Bowie
- Muhammad Ali
As for South Africa’s biggest moments, the US Elections was also a big talking point, but not as popular as our own local elections.
- South African municipal elections 2016
- Olympics
- US Elections
- Zuma
- Fees Must Fall
Predominantly political, South African sport also featured in the country’s biggest talked about topics, with the success of Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya at the Rio Olympics in June.
Facebook Live
Finally, Facebook also released its list of the most popular global Live videos — a first for the company. Its Live video platformed debuted this year, and judging by the videos’ views in the top ten list, it has been a successful addition to the feature family.
Interestingly, six of the top ten stem from brands in media or entertainment. Four are from individuals. And the most popular video of the year, you ask? Well, that stems from an individual, in the form of Chewbacca Mom.
Published in May 2016, Chewy Mom’s clip has racked up over 162-million views on Facebook Live, more than double that of the second placed video, Ted Yoder’s Soundscapes.
The social network’s other nine most viewed Live videos can be seen below, in descending order:
- Ted Yoder, Soundscapes
- Buzzfeed, Countdown to the next presidential election
- Atlanta Buzz, People are lining up to hug police officers in Dallas
- NBC News, Election results
- Under the Hood, Video of a truck completely carved out of wood
- Viral Thread, Population count from US to CA
- CNN, Election results on Empire State building
- Dena Blizzard, Pokemon Go for moms “Chardonnay Go”
- Super Deluxe, Election map
Feature image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
