Brazil takes home the top Twitter trend this past week, though not for its sports upsets, celebrity gossip, or heated political discussions as we’ve seen in the past. This week, news of escalating violence in the city of Rio de Janiero prompted enough chatter to send the topic to the number one spot.
The death of comedy legend Leslie Nielsen came as sad news to tweeters last Sunday. Remembrances, condolences and classic movie quotes propelled Nielsen’s name into the trending topics for some time, and earned him the number two spot for overall trends this week.
Sports news and holidays round out the big chart below, compiled with care by our friends over at What The Trend. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section as well as read more about this past week’s trends on What The Trend.
Top Twitter Trends This Week: 11/27 – 12/3
Rank | Topic | Intensity | Description |
#1 | Brazilian Slum Violence | 3 | Rio de Janiero, Brazil has seen an increase of violence as of late. The BOPE, a special forces unit of the military police, has invaded Complexo do Alemão (Alemão Complex), in an effort to quell the violence. |
#2 | Leslie Nielsen | 3 | 1950s & 60s leading man Leslie Nielsen, later the star of such comedies as Airplane!, Police Squad and the Naked Gun films died Sunday at 84 in South Florida from complications of pneumonia. He "shirley" will be missed. |
#3 | World AIDS Day | 2 | On December 1, people called attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis with the hashtag #gogettested. |
#4 | Soccer/Football | 2 | Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United scored big against Blackburn, and football teams Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other at Camp Nou, Barcelona’s team stadium. |
#5 | NFL | 2 | Top trends centered around Andre Johnson not being suspended for Sunday’s fight with Cortland Finnegan as many had predicted. Additionally, Derek Anderson threw an interception in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers and had a meltdown during the post-game press conference. |
#6 | FIFA World Cup Bids | 1 | Russia won the bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and Qatar the Cup in 2022. It is the first Middle Eastern country to host the event. |
#7 | Hanukkah | 1 | Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday, also know as the festival of lights. It lasts for eight nights and days, beginning on December 1 this year. |
#8 | Thanksgiving | 1 | People are sharing their blessings and naming things they are grateful for most in their lives. It’s prompted by the Thanksgiving Holiday, which happened a little over a week ago. |
#9 | Willie Nelson | 1 | The famous country singer was arrested for pot possession. |
#10 | Black Friday Shopping | 1 | The Friday after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" when huge sales lure shoppers, and stores traditionally have a significant part of their yearly sales volume. |
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ricardoinfante
Reviews: Twitter, iStockphoto, sports
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