Twitter 2020: #COVID19, #BLM top hashtags; US politics, Chadwick Boseman in limelight

The coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement topped the list of conversation topics on Twitter in a tumultuous year, the social platform said Monday.

In a summary of trends, Twitter said the hashtag #COVID19 and other variations were tweeted nearly 400 million times, while #StayHome was the third biggest hashtag of the year.

At number two, the #BlackLivesMatter movement swept across the globe, exploding in strength after the death of George Floyd earlier this yea at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

“People continued to utilise Twitter to publicly advocate for political change and demand accountability from world leaders this year,” the company said in a public statement to its users.

“Over 700 million Tweets were sent in 2020 about elections around the world and Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi and Kamala Harris were among the most Tweeted-about global figures.”

The most retweeted message was the August announcement of the passing of “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman, the beloved lead of the ground-breaking superhero movie that made headlines.

Tweeted by the actor’s family with his account, the message garnered 7.5 million likes — the most all-time — and 2.1 million retweets.

Former US president Barack Obama’s tweet about the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant was the second-most like tweet of the year, with 3.9 million.

Bryant’s death made his former Los Angeles Lakers team the most tweeted-about sports team followed by Manchester United and FC Barcelona. But the NFL’s Super Bowl LIV was the top sports event on Twitter this year.

[Sourced from agencies]