News

Twitter's Top Trending Topics of 2009

By Ian Paul

December 16, 2009 12:41 PM ET

PC World - Did you know that Twitter users are a bunch of Super Bowl cheering, American Idol watching, Google Wave using music lovers? That's according to Twitter's top trending topics list for 2009, anyway. Twitter recently released the list, which details the topics that people were talking about this year, in messages of 140 characters or less, of course.

The hashtag Music Monday, used by twitter users to share what music they're listening to as they kick off the work week, was the most popular trending topic of 2009, according to Twitter . Tweets about Iran's elections came in a close second.

Twitter didn't provide a complete breakdown of the 10 most popular terms overall, but the company did detail the most popular tweet topics in a variety of categories including news, people, movies, television shows, technology, sports, and hashtags. Twitter's year-end top trending list is based on worldwide tweet numbers.

News Events

1. #iranelection2. Swine Flu3. Gaza4. Iran5. Tehran6. #swineflu7. AIG8. #uksnow9. Earth Hour10. #inaug09

Technology became a disruptive force in Iran this summer when protests broke out over the results of that country's presidential elections. Tech tools like twitter, cell phones, digital cameras, Flickr, YouTube and Facebook were all employed to get the word out and raise global awareness about the controversy. Since the protests, the actual impact of Twitter and other technologies on the protests have been called into question, but there's no doubt Iran was a hot topic online this year.

People

1. Michael Jackson2. Susan Boyle3. Adam Lambert4. Kobe (Bryant)5. Chris Brown6. Chuck Norris7. Joe Wilson8. Tiger Woods9. Christian Bale10. A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez)

It's not surprising to see Michael Jackson grab the top spot following the entertainer's untimely death earlier this year. Other notable celebrities the world was tweeting about included YouTube sensation Susan Boyle, American Idol contestant Adam Lambert, and celebrities caught in the grip of scandal like Tiger Woods and Christian Bale.

Movies

1. Harry Potter2. New Moon3. District 94. Paranormal Activity5. Star Trek6. True Blood7. Transformers 28. Watchmen9. Slumdog Millionaire10. G.I. Joe

This was a year to talk about Action and Sci-Fi movies on Twitter with movies like District 9, Transformers 2, G.I. Joe and Watchmen taking up the bulk of the list. But did you notice that True Blood made the movie list? Now, something tells me those tweets were about HBO's televison series and not that forgettable vampire movie from the 80s starring Chad Lowe, Jeff Fahey and Sherilyn Fenn.

TV Topics

1. American Idol2. Glee3. Teen Choice Awards4. SNL (Saturday Night Live)5. Dollhouse6. Grey's Anatomy7. VMAS (Video Music Awards)8. #bsg (Battlestar Galatica)9. BET Awards10. Lost

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