This may have been a year of criticism of the use of social media, particularly in politics, but nonetheless, social media also helped recognize and promote positive events as well.
One of the best things about the end of the year is the opportunity it gives us to reflect on the past, while we prepare for the year ahead. In the spirit of reflection, Facebook released its summary of the world’s top moments and events that generated the most buzz in 2017.
The top three moments that were most discussed by people around the globe included International Women’s Day, Super Bowl 51, and the tragic violence in Las Vegas. The last event also drove people to help their community through Crisis Response tools on Facebook. This leads to the top three moments where people came to each other’s aid: Earthquake in Mexico, Hurricane Harvey, and One Love Manchester. Lastly, people used Facebook to connect and create Events such as watching the total solar eclipse and the Women’s March on D.C.
The top moments of were measured by how frequently a topic was mentioned in Facebook posts made between January 1 and November 1, 2017. To put this list together, mentions were analyzed in an aggregated, anonymized way and then ranked to create a snapshot of the year on Facebook.
Which events did you follow and share?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Discuss the importance of market research. What are sources that can be used? Why is tracking trends important?
- Bring up the site and show the video: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/12/facebooks-2017-year-in-review/
- Divide students into teams and have each team examine a different Facebook topic.
- What are the trends from that topic?
- How can these trends be used to develop new products?
- Debrief the exercise by listing the ideas from each team.
Source: Gleit, Naomi (2017, Dec. 5). Facebook’s 2017 year in review. Facebook.
