Apple’s iPad and smartphones and gadgets based on Google’s Android operating system joined tragic disasters on Twitter top 10 Twitter Trends for 2010, derived from scrutinizing tweet content of more than 25 billion tweets users published this year.
Twitter used its analytics software to calculate the top trends, as well as the leading trends in News, Events, People, Movies, Television, Technology, World Cup, Sports and Hashtags.
Twitter has an estimated 175 million users, with 8 percent of the U.S. population using the service, according to Pew Research. Here we explore the main Top 10 list, but readers may see the other category lists here.
BP’s Gulf Oil Spill, in which nearly 200 million gallons of crude oil were spilled after an underwater explosion led the #Hindsight2010 list. People tweeted about loss of marine life and fishermen’s jobs, and were generally displeased with the way BP handled the situation.
The FIFA World Cup soccer event took No. 2, followed by Christopher Nolan’s fantastical dreamworld film Inception. The 2010 Haiti Earthquake, in which more than 230,000 people were killed, landed at No. 4.
The Vuvuzela horn, which drove people nuts at the World Cup with its varied noisemaking, rounded out the top 5 trends.
The iPad and Google Android took No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, as people took to tweeting and searching for tweets about people who used the popular tablet and smartphones based on the Android operating system.
The iPad has sold millions of units since it launched in April, including 4.19 million in the last quarter. Meanwhile, Android has risen to claim nearly one quarter of all U.S. smartphone market share, powers Google TV, and is set to appear in dozens of tablets in 2011.
Pop music star Justin Bieber grabbed the No. 8 spot, which was surprising considering that he took the No. 3 spot on Google’s 2010 Zeitgeist list of fastest rising queries worldwide.
The movie Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, part one of a two-part wrap-up saga based on J.K. Rowling’s final book in the Potter series, took the ninth position this year.
Completing Twitter’s 10 Trends list, Pulpo Paul was an English octopus who became internationally famous after his feeding behavior was used to predict the winner of each of Germany’s seven matches in the 2010 World Cup.
Paul, who also predicted Spain would prevail in the final match, passed away in October.