What was Hot on Twitter in 2012

Nowadays, social networking through Twitter is prevalent all over the world. Therefore, hot issue occurs on Twitter everyday and it is spreading fast. Through Twitter, we are able to interact with a large number of people on a daily basis and get the news more quickly rather than TV or newspaper. Because of this recent tendency, people take more interest on Twitter, and tweets of celebrities have a great influence in general.

Twitter recently announced the biggest trends and most retweeted posts of 2012. So, I'd like to introduce what was popular on Twitter this year. As I posted most retweeted Tweet "Four more years" earlier, which is about Obama's reelection, let's see the next most retweeted Tweet ever first!

Pop star Justin Bieber tweeted saying goodbye to his great six-year-old fan Avalanna Routh, who died of brain cancer in September. Bieber became close with Avalanna during her fighting against a disease, so he paid tribute to her in a Tweet. And it was retweeted nearly 250,000 times by many Twitter Beliebers. Moreover, Bieber has been designated as a most tweeted celeb in 2012.

Also, here is another notable Tweet, which was sent from 35,755 feet underwater. The world famous movie director James Cameron took the second-ever dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, and became the first person to send a tweet from so far under the sea.

There are several topics that created a great number of Tweets and Retweets in 2012. Most of all, 2012 London Olympic Games had attracted much attention from Twitter users. 16 days of Summer Olympics in London made 150 million Tweets, and more than 116,000 Tweets per minute were made related to the closing ceremonies, especially during the Spice Girls' performance. When Usain Bolt from Jamaica, who is called as the quickest guy in the world, won in the 200m sprint, so many people tweeted about this athlete(80,000 Tweets per minute).

Whitney Houston's death was also one of the hottest issue on Twitter. Lots of fans who love her music expressed their grief through their Twitter accounts, and the news of her passing made more than 10 million Tweets. Furthermore, nearly 2 million Tweets were generated during a live televised funeral and tribute.

In addition, Twitter picked U.S. election, MTV Video Music Awards, Superbowl, Euro 2012, Superstorm Sandy, etc for the major occurrences this year.

Twitter also gives you what was the most searched topic depending on the different kinds such as 'Politics', 'Sports', 'TV', 'Tech', etc.

You can check out these in detail through this link! 
→ [2012 YEAR ON TWITTER]

As you can see, many people use Twitter as a way of communicating with other person. And they feel empathy through discussing a common theme more and more in the modern society. As smartphones have been developing, interaction among people in real-time through Twitter became common. But, there are so lots of information and news which are not proven. Therefore, communication should be done with appropriate filtering on Twitter.

Let's enjoy Twitter more than ever!

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How to Enjoy Twitter to the Fullest

A number of Twitter users want to know what the trend is and what the hottest news are in Twitter. But if you are one of the people who are not accustomed to using Twitter, you would be tossed on an ocean of doubts. There are some ways to track Twitter trend more easily. Check out these ways to grasp hot Twitter trend these days.

- Hashtags.org: Measure and engage in Twitter conversations with this site's in-depth guide to using hashtags, plus its analytics for hashtags divided by category(TV, tech, social change, etc.). Clicking on a single hashtag shows an hour-by-hour usage graph. Your options multiply with a paid subscription.

- Retweet: UK-based Retweet lets you sync up your Twitter account to find which of your tweets were the most popular, a great trend-tracking tool for organizations to gauge their Twitter strategy success.

- Monitter: Track trends in real-time by typing in keywords and adding or removing columns to give you the right amount of information.

- TweetTabs: Powered by TweetMeme, TweetTabs works similarly to Monitter, letting you display your chosen Twitter searches by columns.

- PeopleBrowsr Playground: This product organizes Twitter's firehose of data into impressive sortable graphs and charts. It's not free - starts at $149 per month - but it's pretty powerful. It's been said to "take analytics to a new level".
- Twitstant: Search tweets instantly for a look at what's hot on Twitter, or else check out the footer bar for trending suggestions.

- Summizer: This app lets you trend-hunt using Twitter's advanced query operators; then you can save custom searches, and share them via social media.

- Trendsmap.com: Trendsmap.com is real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. The site has a user-friendly interface we dig - the homepage presents you with a map of the U.S. overlaid with Twitter trends by geography.

Furthermore, there's more information that enables you to explore Twitter with interest. For example, 'Connect' and 'Discover' buttons which appear next to the Home button at the page. Using 'Connect', you can see everyone who is interacting with you on the network. It contains the list of members, kind of who have recently followed you and mentioned you. 'Discover' allows you to figure out what is your interests, based on your location, who you follow and what topics are hot. 

You can check out more details about what you maybe didn't know about Twitter through this link → [Nine Things You Didn't Know About Twitter]

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The Pope Joins Twitter

Pope Benedict XVI(@Pontifex) became the first Pope to join Twitter. The Vatican announced that he would open his Twitter account on December 3 for the first time and he didn't make any posting until December 12. While he hadn't been posted any comments in his Twitter, the feed had attracted more than 70,000 followers within hours. His closest religious rival on Twitter is the Dalai Lama whose followers over 5 million, and If we assume that the same proportion of the Catholoics who are following Dalai Lama follow the Pope, he'll come in at number 22, which is just behind Eminem. Also, social media experts say the Pope will be lucky to break into the top 20 of the site's most followed people. According to Greg Burke, senior media advisor to the Vatican, '@Pontifex' is appropriate for several reasons.

• 'The handle is a good one. It means "pope" and it also means "bridge builder",' he said.
• 'The Pope wants to reach out to everyone, he told a news conference.'

The Pope's Twitter page is designed in yellow and white - the colors of the Vatican, with a backdrop of the Vatican and his picture. It may change during different liturgical seasons of the year and when he is away from the Vatican on trips.

The Vatican had invited the faithful to send their questions to a special Twitter account, #askpontifex.

While @Pontifex will be the Pope's primary account in English, he will oversee many more accounts in major languages that offer translation of his Tweets, including these:

• Spanish: @pontifex_es
• Italian: @pontifex_it
• Portuguese: @pontifex_pt
• German: @pontifex_de
• Polish: @pontifex_pl
• Arabic: @pontifex_ar
• French: @pontifex_fr

The Pope has officially tweeted for the first time, saying that he was "pleased to get in touch" with many expectations on December 12. 

Within hours, the number of his followers had exceeded one million, with more than 800,000 in English alone - one of eight languages he will tweet. Furthermore, Benedict sent two more tweets later, in response to questions of faith sent in by Catholics from around the world. But not all of the messages from his followers are religious. Some of the Tweets were jokey, including "What brand of beans should I stockpile to prepare for Amageddon?", "Who is your favorite character from Father Ted?" and "Are you sending everyone who asks you stupid questions on Twitter to hell?"

Vatican officials have said the Pope will not personally make every Tweet, but each one will be approved by him and will be drawn from his speeches, thoughts and theological writings. Many people are watching the Pope's Tweet with a huge interest, and they wonder how much his tweet would influence to the followers. The Pope's appearance on Twitter suggests people can feel like contacting with him wherever they are, and the possibility of getting inspired from one of the world's most influential religious leaders. 

→ [via link]

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Hollister models Mock Koreans via Twitter

Hollister models visiting Korea to advertise the opening of an American clothing brand 'Hollister' took pictures that make fun of Asians and posted with racial discrimination tweets. And, it caused controversy in Twitter and other social networks. Hollister models attended the opening of the brand's first Korean store at the Yeouido location, where they took photos with customers. The event is part of Hollister's differentiated marketing campaign whenever it opens a new store. One of the models who attended the opening event posted a picture to his Twitter, which is taken in front of Gyeongbok Palace with his eyes squinted closed and his lips open. It is the way that some racists describe Asian, and it's actually making fun of Asian. Another model posted similar photos to his Twitter account. In addition, their tweets after the photo were problematic. 

 ("Look at how many Asians liked that picture... impressive" / "Hahahaha they ruhhvvvv ittttt!")

Furthermore, it didn't end up with the kind of upper tweets. Another model was captured exposing his middle finger in an insulting gesture during photos. It was enough to make a controversy and be criticized for racist comments in Twitter.

Many Asian customers were outraged at this imprudent behavior, so they criticized the incident and required appropriate treatment to the company. Hollister's parent company, Abecrombie & Fitch, said they have now fired the models who are involved in the recent incident. "As a company, we do not tolerate inappropriate or offensive behavior. We terminated the associates involved as a result of their actions. On behalf of our more than 80,000 employees around the world who cherish our core values and our culture of diversity and inclusion, we sincerely apologize for the offense caused by these unauthorized, ill-considered actions."

→ [via link]

The company fired the racist models and apologized for the offense though, people wonder whether it is a just and proper measure. Because it isn't Hollister's first time to be involved in terms of racial discrimination. It need to be more careful than ever if it doesn't want to make such a problem.

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Twitter Reactions to Natural Disasters

(People congregate in front of a building that still has wireless internet access in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York October 30, 2012.)

Through social networking, people can get up-to-the-minute news, not by TV news or newspapers these days. Although the social network can provide unsubstantiated things and spread rumors quickly, Twitter has gained attention for its role in the rescue efforts in natural disasters. When the earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan March, 2011, many Japanese Twitter users used Twitter as a way of exchanging information about how to manage the situation. Also, they took social networks to search for family or friends because voice access was restricted on many mobile phones, but people were able to text and use data services. At that time, Twitter posted a guide for Japanese users to help people get information and communicate with friends and family in the earthquake's aftermath, offering tips and resources in Japanese and English.

→ [via link]

About a year and a half after the tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Sandy hit portions of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern of the United States, and the devastation of Sandy hit millions. Many people turned to Twitter to discuss what they are going through like as Japanese did when they suffered from the earthquake. Twitter created a Sandy hashtag page(#Sandy) in order that people could get Sandy-related news more easily. The page displayed manually selected tweets plucked from official accounts like those of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Chris of New Jersey, who as particularly active on the network.

Users posted immediately their own photos and descriptions about what the situation is, and many of the images were republished in the live coverage by news websites and aired on television broadcasts. People reached out to their friends and family through Twitter to know whether they are alright. "We learned from the storm and tsunami in Japan that Twitter can often be a lifeline."said Rachael Horwitz, a Twitter spokeswoman. As she said, Twitter showed the possibility that Twitter could one day become a national broadcast system in the case of emergency.

→ [via link]

(There are also funny tweets related to Hurricane Sandy like this.)

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Taylor Swift is Threatened by One Direction Fans

Taylor Swift, who is one of the most popular stars and ranked 7th place in the top 100 most followed on Twitter, has been threatened by One Direction's fans due to the fact that she is dating with Harry Styles from One Direction. Taylor Swift has been subjected to death threats by 'The Directioners', which means the followers of One Direction, after Taylor Swift and Harry Styles were spotted holding hands backstage at 'The X Factor USA'. Since then, they have been spotted strolling and getting cozy in the park several times. One Direction fans posted messages on Twitter. One wrote : "I'll murder Taylor Swift. She will not date my Harry." Another fan tweeted a similar and equally as scary message : "If u dating my harry, I kill u." One Twitter user named Patrick Bateman also sent threatening messages creepy. "You agly b**ch. I want to stab you to death and play around with your blood." 

→ [via link]

It is such a terrible thing to menace other people even if it is through words. These days, word has equal or more power compared to physical power. Many anonymous people on Twitter offend other person who is really irrelevant to them. In addition, the hurt the one feel can't be easily healed. Even though people in a bad temper, they should take responsibility for their words and post appropriately on Twitter or other social networks.

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Instagram Blocks a Twitter Feature

The most famous photo-sharing application 'Instagram' recently decided to stop displaying pictures properly on Twitter. It implies that photos which are taken through Instagram don't appear in the Twitter feed directly any more. Twitter users had to get Instagram images that are off-centre or strangely cropped, and Android-based phone users even couldn't see an image at all after the decision of Instagram has been executed. Instagram users still can post their photos on Twitter directly, but Twitter users will only see a text link. To see the actual photos taken through Instagram, people will be directed back to Instagram.com. It's because Instagram's Twitter cards integration(technical feature of the microblogging site that enables photos appear properly in the Twitter feed) became unavailable. Such a decision of Instagram is partly because it is trying to attract much more people to Instagram. 


Kelvin Systrom, Instagram chief executive, speaking at the LeWeb conference in Paris, said that the change was a technical one, not a competitive one : "This isn't actually a consequence of us getting acquired".

→ [via link]

There is subtle pressure from Facebook to stop using a Twitter feature in Instagram though Instagram chif executive attributed it to technical matter. 

Twitter and Facebook are the two dominant social networks. As the tension between Twitter and Facebook is growing, photos seems to be regarded as an important factor for promoting the business of both social networks. Facebook acquired Instagram for nearly $1 billion in cash and stock, and it must influence to the decision of Instagram.

→ [via link]

Many people wonder how much the decision influence to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook users.

+ Twitter recently launched photo filters which enable users to edit a picture from their phone's library to share over the micro-blogging service. Using the tool, users can take different tints and hues. Android devices users can get Twitter's new app now and the Apple version of this new app will be launched soon. Though Twitter has progressed and released new attractive feature, its photo editing program lacks a few options which is available on Instagram. So, people expect Twitter's new filters and are worried about it at the same time.

→ [via link]

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Justin Bieber 's Stolen Laptop and Reversal

Justin Bieber is one of the most popular Hollywood stars and ranked 2nd place in the top 100 most followed on Twitter. 

(This picture covers top 5 celebrities who have the most followers.)

In October, Biber tweeted that his laptop and camera, which contained personal footage, had been stolen. He complained the case and emphasized the importance of respecting privacy. 

After Bieber posted these Tweets, a mysterious user with no avatar called @gexwy popped up on his Twitter feed. The user claimed that he had the footage of the pint-sized star which is belong to Justin Bieber, alluding that he was the one who stole Bieber's electronic goods. While the user's Tweet received the attention of a wide public, especially Justin Bieber's fan called 'Belieber', he threatened Bieber further by hinting that he had something that the world would want to see. 

But, some people found strange things out of the heated controversy between Justin Bieber and gexwy. Justin should have called the police straight away and started tracking @gexwy's IP address, but he didn't and just repeated posting his response and some tags '#noon'.

Eventually, truth came out.

Justin Bieber hasn't been stolen his laptop and camera from the first. What he continuously posted('#noon') are tweeted in order to promote that his new music video 'Beauty and a Beat' would be released at 'noon'. Actually all the arguments between Bieber and gexwy on Twitter are to publicize Bieber's new music video. Furthermore, gexwy was also Justin Bieber himself. 'Gexwy' tweeted as 'My Beliebers are better than FBI' after that time.

→ [via link]

Videos below are the one that gexwy claimed as Bieber's personal footage and Justin Bieber's released music video.

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Political Remarks of Celebrities

Recently, remark of Bae Seul-ki, a Korean actress, was controversial on Twitter. She said "It makes me loose desire to vote. I hate people who follow ideology of North Korea." by her Twitter account.

She has been denounced by public outcry because of her Tweet. Many people criticize that her comment was imprudent, and they say she needed to be cautious at choosing words because she is a celebrity. After this controversy in the Internet, Bae Seul-ki posted a written apology.

→ [via link]

Despite her apology, she was criticized again because of some words of her posting. She used a little vulgar word in the course of her Tweet. People pointed out this, saying there isn't sincerity in her apology.

In contrast to Bae Seul-ki's case, Yu Ah-in who is a Korean actor won other's favor through remarks with his own beliefs. 

He has often expressed his opinion about social issues on his Twitter. At first, he didn't get much good feeling from people, but his consistent remarking what he believes he must do has been attracting more attention than ever.

→ [via link]

Celebrity is one of the people of this nation before being a celebrity. So they can express their opinion through Twitter of Facebook freely. However, they should take responsibility for their statements since celebrities have a great deal of influence on public.

Nowadays, many celebrities have officially encouraged vote through Twitter. Election Day of Korea is coming! Let's look forward to good influence of their vote encouragement.

(Tweet of a famous novelist who has a lot of followers in Korea.)

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Chris Brown Deletes Twitter account

A famous singer Chris Brown deleted his Twitter account on Nov. 25. It happened after the fierce argument on Twitter with a comedy writer, Jenny Johnson. She first challenged Chris saying "Being a worthless piece of s**t can really age a person" which is a Retweet about Chris' post. Jenny Johnson continued to have a quarrel about Chris' unapologetic behavior and Chris Brown also responded to this.

 → [via link]

Jenny Johnson jumped over and made fun of Chris Brown on Twitter. As a result, Chris deleted his Twitter account. Jenny Johnson has been getting lots of attention because she brought Breezy down but not necessarily in the good way. 

This is the video about Twitter fight between Chris Brown and Jenny Johnson. You can get more details about this case through this video.

+ Chris Brown returned to Twitter on December. 2, after a week-long absence since the attack by Jenny Johnson. He posted a photo of Rihanna and resumed his Twitter activity, though his previous Tweets have been deleted.

→ [via link]

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How 'Gangnam Style' Gets its Popularity

Nowadays, PSY is the most famous singer in Korea and his popularity is still smoking in the world including the US and European countries. He took the second place in the Billboard chart through this song, which is following Maroon5. And also, 'Gangnam Style' became most-watched video ever on YouTube - 805 million views, which has overtaken the previous leader, Justin Bieber's 'Baby'. 'Gangnam Style' received the first attention from Justin Bieber's manager Braun. "HOW DID I NOT SIGN THIS GUY!?!??!" Braun posted on his twitter along with a YouTube link to the 'Gangnam Style' music video. In addition, U.S. pop singer Katy Perry joined the Psy craze, tweeting like this.

Tom Cruise also tweeted about 'Gangnam Style'

                                                                                                                                                            → [via link] 

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Most Retweeted Tweet

This tweet 'Four more years' was written after it was certain that he would be reelected. The post became most re-tweeted - 472,000 shares in three hours according to Twitter's politics account. The result is most appreciated for making full use of SNS. Korea's election day is coming, so many people wonder how Twitter would have a major influence on the election. The post brought about a result that breaks the previous record of world famous singer Justin Bieber. 

→ [via link]

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