Looking at 2015 Through the Lens of Social Media
By Tracey Dowdy
We haven’t turned that December calendar page yet but according to the Internet 2015 is already over. The annual Top Ten lists are out, so now we know Drake and Adele were the most streamed musicians on Spotify, #JeSuisParis was the most tweeted hashtag on Twitter, and depending whether you’re looking back with YouTube or Facebook, 2015 was either really fun or a really dark year.
“To put this list together, Facebook posts were analyzed in an aggregated, anonymized way, and then ranked to create a snapshot of the year on Facebook,” is how Facebook explained its results on its blog. In addition to the Top Ten lists, Facebook created a video highlighting the top news stories of the year, including the Paris terrorist attacks and the earthquake in Nepal, as well as events closer to home like the 2016 presidential election and the protests in Baltimore.
According to Facebook, the most talked about events of 2015 were:
- US Presidential Election
- November 13 Attacks in Paris
- Syrian Civil War & Refugee Crisis
- Nepal Earthquakes
- Greek Debt Crisis
- Marriage Equality
- Fight Against ISIS
- Charlie Hebdo Attack
- Baltimore Protests
- Charleston Shooting & Flag Debate
It’s a sobering look at some of the major events that defined 2015.
YouTube’s Top Ten lists were based on the amount of time users spent watching, sharing, liking and commenting on videos hosted on its site. And YouTube has taken a very different approach with their year-in-review video. Rather than sound bites and news clips, they’ve produced a slick look back through a pop-culture lens that features the network’s most popular creators and a number of celebrity cameos. #YouTubeRewind is seven minutes long, highlights dance crazes and lip-sync battles, features Left Shark and Joanne, and is set to some of 2015’s most popular music. It’s creative, upbeat, and makes 2015 seems like a whole lot of fun.
As an added bonus, YouTube celebrated it’s 10th birthday this year, so the video hits a few of the highlights from it’s history. Heads up – there’s a Rebecca Black cameo. You’ve been warned.
YouTube’s look back seems to be marketed to a very different crowd than Facebook’s video. That makes sense when you consider the age of the average Facebook user in the U.S. is now 40.5. Over at YouTube, the audience skews much younger – 18-24. Although there’s plenty of valuable content on YouTube, the platform never seems to take itself too seriously. Facebook has been trying to establish itself as more than an additional platform for sharing YouTube videos, the latest memes or family pictures and their respective videos clearly reflect each platform’s goals.
Both bring interesting perspective and I found myself asking, “Was that really just a few months ago?” when several of the events were highlighted. Neither video gives a complete picture – one is thought-provoking, the other pure entertainment – but together, they’re an interesting look back on the year that was.
Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.
This is the perfect website for anybody who wishes to understand this
topic. You understand a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa).
You certainly put a brand new spin on a topic that’s been written about
for ages. Wonderful stuff, just wonderful!
I’m really inspired with your writing abilities and also with the layout in your blog.
Is that this a paid subject matter or did you customize it your self?
Either way stay up the nice quality writing, it is uncommon to look a great blog like this one today..
What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity concerning unexpected emotions.
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found something that helped me.
Appreciate it!
You’re so cool! I do not think I have read through anything like
this before. So nice to find somebody with a few genuine thoughts on this subject matter.
Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This site is one thing that is needed on the web, someone
with some originality!
We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
Your web site offered us with useful information to
work on. You’ve performed an impressive task and our whole group will probably be thankful
to you.
Hi there colleagues, how is all, and what you
would like to say concerning this article, in my view its genuinely amazing designed
for me.
I visited many sites except the audio feature for
audio songs present at this website is actually marvelous.
It’s going to be end of mine day, but before end I am reading this fantastic post to improve my knowledge.
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content
seem to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure if this is a
format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to
let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope
you get the issue solved soon. Kudos
certainly like your web-site however you have to test
the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with
spelling problems and I in finding it very bothersome
to inform the truth then again I will certainly come back again.
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
Thhe sketch is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish.
nonetheless,you command get boughut an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following.
unwell unquestionably com more formerly again as exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike.
My homepage: sex cams
Thank you for every other excellent post.
The place else may anyone get that kind of info in such an ideal manner of writing?
I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the search for such info.
Hi my loved one! I wish to say that ths post is amazing,
nice written and include almost all vital infos. I’d like
to peer more posts like this .
Also visit my homepage:free xxx
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers?
I’m kijda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked
hard on. Any recommendations?
Feel free to surff to my page – best ranked porno HD
Very nice post. I just stumbled upo your weblog and wanted to
say that I’ve trulyy loved browsing your weblog posts.
In any case I’ll bee subscribing for your rss feed and I am hoping everything you need to know about live sex write once more very soon!
Thank you for the good writeup. It actually was a entertainment
account it. Glance complicated to far delivered agreeable from you!
However, how coulld we be in contact?
my blog post … sex cams online
Admiring the persistence you put into your blog and detailed information you
offer. It’s nice to come across a blog every
ojce in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed information. Great read!
I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Also visit my blog post; xxx video
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering
which blog platform are you using for this site?
I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives
for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Also visit my web-site :: spam
Hi there! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out
and tell you I really enjoy reading through your articles.
Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over
the same topics? Thank you so much!
My web-site … fake webcam