Top of the Tweets 2013

Social media giant Twitter recently revealed the most tweeted topics of 2013 after analysing the Twitter habits of 15 million active users in the UK.

Sporting events were found to have caused 7 of the top 10 Twitter moments of the year with Manchester United’s defeat by Real Madrid provoking the biggest Twitter reaction as the club was knocked out of the champions league. Narrowly beaten by the predictable rush of New Year tweets, Andy Murray’s historic Wimbledon victory also made it into the top 3 as Britons shared their joy and disbelief at the first British singles win in 77 years.

Celebrity deaths also featured heavily in the national debate with British users commemorating the passing of former poet laureate Seamus Heaney, author Iain Banks, Lady Thatcher and James Gandolfini, best known for his leading role in the Sopranos. The recent death of former South African president Nelson Mandela also caused an outbreak of tweets around the world.

Worldwide the most popular and retweeted message of the year went to Glee actor Lea Michele, thanking fans for their support over the death of her co-star Cory Monteith with 408,000 retweets. Fast and Furious star Paul Walker's shock death followed closely with 400,000 retweets.

Other popular tweet topics included the birth of Prince George in July and those by the boy band One Direction who claimed the prize for the most retweets globally. 

For the full article, visit http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/11/one-direction-top-tweeted-topics

Many Happy Returns Twitter!

Jack Dorsey, Twitter's co-founder, sent the first ever tweet, on March 21  2006.  Dorsey posted on, Twitter, or Twttr as it was known at the time: "just setting up my twttr".

In the seven years since that tweet, more than 200 million people have joined Twitter and the social networking website now sees 400 million tweets sent every day.  Indeed, OISE Oxford has joined that merry Twitter band and enjoys tweeting on daily basis.

According to a survey published earlier this week, the most popular topic to tweet about is television, with 40 per cent of evening tweets concerning what is on television.  The survey also found that women talk more on Twitter about personal matters, television and work, while men are more likely to tweet about sport gaming and news.  At OISE Oxford we like to tweet about the English language.  Whilst my personal account is more a diary of woes! What do you like to tweet about?

Top Twitter Tip Bits

• Each message posted on Twitter can be up to 140 characters long, including web addresses, user names and hashtags

• There are 200 million active Twitter users worldwide

• Every day 400 million tweets are sent every day

• It took three years, two months and one day for the first billion tweets to be sent

• There are 10 million users in the UK, and 80% of them access Twitter via their mobile phones

• Of Twitter's global users, 60% check the service on their phones

• Some 40% of Twitter users choose not to write any tweets themselves, but use the platform to follow news and interests

The happiest of birthday wishes to Twitter, happy tweeting!

Freedom of Speech – Be Careful What You Tweet

The internet is an extremely powerful tool that has given a voice to many. The day’s news is not only announced in newspapers, but also through a plethora of digital media platforms. It has given anyone and everyone the opportunity to spread the news and make their personal opinions heard.

Twitter has to be the best of the digital bunch as you can pick exactly what source you receive updates from. Furthermore, thanks to the 140 character limit it takes only a few seconds to know where the information is coming from and whether the subject will be of interest to you. 

But how much freedom does one actually have to express their views and share the information they have? 

Every day there are an increasing number of people being prosecuted for sharing confidential information on the web, so much so that they have now made a Twitter user’s ‘Guide to the law’.   Click on the image to below to read more.

What are you views on creating a 'Guide to the law' for social media platforms? 
Do you fear that these laws will become too restrictive?