Twitter has released its most shared, liked and talked about topics for the year just past, with Covid rarely far from our minds and Joe Biden apparently closer to our hearts.
While one US president was kicked off Twitter in early 2021, another one was proving quite the draw with Irish users, with a tweet from President Biden proclaiming his inauguration to be “a new day in America” the most liked of the year.
The most liked tweet from an Irish account came from the Garda, with the nation responding with delight as members of the force stepped up and performed the Jerusalema Challenge in response to a gauntlet laid down by the Swiss guards.
Manchester United has a pretty busy Twitter account at the best of times, but at the very best of times, in August, interaction reached a whole new level as it announced the re-signing of Cristiano Ronaldo with the simplest of tweets. “Welcome home” was all it took to become the most retweeted sporting moment of 2021.
Closer to home, the most popular tweet with an Irish angle was from Irish gymnast Rhys McLeneghan. “My head is held higher than ever. At this early stage in my career I can call myself an Olympic finalist. It feels like the beginning of something special,” he said.
While the athlete’s tweet was full of joy, one full of sadness also connected with Irish users, who shared Jimmy Carr’s grief at the loss of his friend and fellow comedian Sean Lock in huge numbers.
Another widely shared tweet came from Twitter itself as it poked fun at other social media companies – the ones owned by Facebook – when they went offline for hours.
The announcement that Chapters Bookshop in Dublin was closing also stuck a chord.
Mica-affected homeowners
Unsurprisingly, Covid-19 topped the list as the most used news hashtag on Irish Twitter during 2021, followed by a hashtag related to the Mica redress scheme and the struggles of mica-affected homeowners.
In international news, sport dominated the stories and topics on Irish Twitter in 2021, with the comings and goings and ups and downs at Manchester United seeing #mufc top the list. For the first time, #bitcoin entered the top of the list as one of the most discussed international topics this year.
For the third year in a row, Love Island tops the list for the most talked about entertainment moment on Irish Twitter, followed by Eurovision. The bent coppers of In The Line of Duty fared well as did the Late Late Show.
Over the course of the year, the five most talked about movies on Irish Twitter were Zack Snyder’s Justice League in top spot, followed by Spider-Man: No Way Home, even before it sees its official release here, while The Suicide Squad, Black Widow and Dune finished in the minor places.
Irish Twitter likes to talk about its favourite sports stars too. When it comes to female sporting heroes, Katie Taylor was the most discussed, followed by Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka in second and third place.
The men’s list was dominated by men’s football with Marcus Rashford on top followed by Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba.
While Garth Brooks trended in Ireland in recent weeks, he just missed out on making it into this year’s list of Irish Twitter’s most talked about musicians. Continuing their global dominance, BTS had the most discussed music handle in Ireland, with Taylor Swift second on the Irish Twitter list followed by Louis Tomlinson.
