Estimated Reading Time 7 minutes

2016 has been far from a dull year, whether positive or negative it seemed that everyone was talking about a new global news story every day. From celebrity deaths to politics, sporting events to global crazes, Google and Social Media has it all covered. So what were people talking? Who were people talking? And on what channel? There’s only one place to start..

Google’s Top Ten Global Searches

There are quite a few in here that will be no surprise to you whatsoever, the deaths of both David Bowie and Prince shook the music world to its core and was headline news for days. While Donald Trump becoming president is still being digested by not only 54% of US voters, but by the rest of the world over a month later awaiting the consequences of the historic win. Google’s trends and search data is by far the most accurate of the channels discussed here, with location based data as well as Music, Television, and Sport based searches also available.

1. Pokemon Go
2.  iPhone 7
3.  Donald Trump 
4. Prince
5. Powerball
6. David Bowie
7. Deadpool
8. Olympics
9. Slither.io
10. Suicide Squad

Twitter Top 10 Global Trends

Twitter for a lot of people is their source of news. Personally I don’t watch the news on TV or visit any news websites to keep myself informed, a quick browse of my twitter timeline or look through what’s trending always keeps me in the loop with current affairs. The below is an extension of Google’s searches, with sporting events, politics, and celebrity deaths dominating the top ten global trending topics.  

1. #Rio2016
2. #Election2016
3. #PokemonGo
4. #Euro2016
5. #Oscars
6. #Brexit
7. #BlackLivesMatter
8. #Trump
9. #RIP (associated with a range of celebrity deaths)
10. #GameOfThrones

(Courtesy of ITV)

Instagram 2016

Now this was going to include the top 10 posts of 2016, however 8 of those 10 belong to Selena Gomez with pictures like this…

So instead I’ve decided instead to do the days of the year, just to give you a jist of what was making people share so much on those days.

1. Halloween (Oct. 31)
2. 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Sept. 11)
3. Euro Cup Final (July 10)
4. U.S. election (Nov. 8)
5. 2016 Summer Olympic Games (celebratory posts about big wins by Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt) (Aug. 14)
6. Father’s Day (June 19)
7. Paris Fashion Week (Oct. 1)
8. Mother’s Day (May 8)
9. New Year’s Day (Jan. 1)
10. Easter Sunday (March 27)

Most Used Emojis Of 2016

If 2015 was the breakout year of the emoji, 2016 is the year when they transitioned to full blown methods of conversation. With a film on the way, and a London based translation firm posting a job vacancy for an emoji translator (thought to be the very first of its kind), expect the global phenomenon of the emoji to continue into 2017.

1. ❤️ (Love)
2. (Smiling face with hearts of joy)
3. (Face with tears of joy)
4. (Hey baby)
5. (All the love)
6. (So content)
7. (Ok by me)
8. ✌️ (Peace out)
9. (Party on)
10. (Blue love)

With so many big breaking news stories, negativity, and huge personalities, 2016 saw arguably the most activity and debate on Social media since the Internet’s inception. 2017 will surely only result in more opinion, debate, and more hyperbole use of playful icons to get your message across.

To learn more about trends and how they affect your business, call the team on the contact details below. Merry Christmas.