With people sending 500 million Tweets per day, it is clear that Twitter is still a top social media site all over the world. It is ideal for sharing links, voicing a quick opinion, and following the random thoughts of your favourite celebrities, and companies. Not surprisingly, the worldwide “Golden Tweet” (most re-tweeted) of 2014 was Ellen Degeneres’ star studded selfie from the Academy Awards in March. But what about Canada? Here is an all-Canadian roundup of 2014 according to Twitter.
The most followed Canadian on Twitter is none other than Stratford’s own Justin Bieber. His tweet following a DUI arrest where he shows gratitude to his loyal Beliebers takes the prize for the Canadian Golden Tweet this year, currently with almost 500,000 retweets. He tweeted “YOU ARE ALL WORTHY NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS >> BE STRONG GOD IS WITH US ALL> MY BELIEBERS CHANGED MY LIFE> I WILL FOREVER BE GRATEFUL”
Two tragic events for Canada ranked in the top 10 most talked about moments this year, with number one being the October shooting at Parliament, and the tragic death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Canadians tweeted their support with the hashtags #PrayforOttawa and #StaySafeOttawa. The manhunt for the suspect who shot 5 RCMP officers in June in Moncton, New Brunswick ranked number 3 in the top moments.
We can’t forget our hockey here in Canada, and the Sochi Olympics made for plenty of tweetable moments. Both our men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold medals, and the moments came in at number 2, and 5, respectively in the top 10. Three more top 10 spots went to World Cup games, which was also the most Tweeted-about sporting event ever.
Some of Canadians most retweeted Tweets of the year include Seth Rogan’s spoof of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s Vogue cover, Stephen Harper making a bet with Barack Obama during the Olympics, and Drake hinting at a collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign and The Weeknd.
The fastest rising hashtag in Canada went to #BB16 as people ranted and raved over hate-watching episodes of Big Brother 16. Sports hashtags like #GoHabsGo, #Oilers, #NHLJets, and #Canucks also made the top 10 fastest rising hashtags of the year, and people discussed the missing Malaysia Airlines plane using the hashtag #MH370.
Rounding out the top 5 most followed Canadians along with Justin Beiber are Drake, Avril Lavigne, Jim Carrey, and Carly Rae Jepsen.
Check out 2014.Twitter.com for more details on the biggest global moments of the year as demonstrated by hundreds of thousands of tweets, retweets, favourites, and follows. You can also hear from some of the most popular and prolific Twitter users, such as Lady Gaga, J.K Rowling, and Robert Downey Jr. on who their #5ToFollow are for 2015.
