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COVID and BLM dominate Twitter trends in 2020

Alex Berry
December 8, 2020

Twitter has revealed the most popular tweets and trends at the end of a tumultuous year. People took to the social network to discuss everything from the coronavirus pandemic to the Black Lives Matter protests.

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Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA Press/A. Durgut

Social media giant Twitter published its annual review on Monday, taking a look at the most popular tweets and trends on the site throughout the year.

The report stated that: "The most Retweeted and top Liked Tweets of the year encapsulate the full spectrum of life in 2020: loss, contemplation, distraction, entertainment, and a dash of humor."

Unsurprisingly the most used hashtag on the site was #COVID19, with this, or variations of it, being retweeted some 400 million times.

The third most retweeted hashtag was also coronavirus-related with users reminding each other to #StayHome.

The single most popular tweet was the announcement of the unexpected death of the actor of Black Panther fame, Chadwick Boseman, tweeted over his account by his family.

It was also the site's most popular tweet of all time, garnering a record-breaking 7.6 million "Likes."

Social media channels political interest

The second most popular hashtag was #BlackLivesMatter which exploded on social media after the murder of George Floyd by police in the USA. George Floyd was also the third most tweeted-about person in the world.

The first place went to outgoing US president, Donald Trump, a regular user of the site. While unable to beat Joe Biden in the presidential election, Trump was able to defeat his rival in terms of mentions on Twitter.

In total over 700 million tweets were published regarding elections around the world with Barack Obama, Narendra Modi, and Kamala Harris all appearing in the top 10 list of most tweeted about personalities.

Read more: US Vice President Kamala Harris: A woman for America's future

Kamala Harris's celebratory tweet on winning the US presidential election with her running mate Joe Biden was also one of the most "Liked" tweets this year.

People search for amusement in lockdown

As much of the world stayed home under lockdown for several months, millions turned to social media for entertainment and distraction.

Another one of the site's most popular tweets was a video along with a simple comment: "Quarantine day 6."

The video showed the user's creative attempt to pass the time by amusing themselves with a sock puppet and cars passing by outside.