C O M P I L E D B Y M E L I S A H A S A N

Twitter is a social networking site that lets you record your thoughts in ‘tweets’ - small updates of 140 characters or less.

To register, visit www.twitter.com. You can upload a profile picture, post a mini bibliography and change the background design of your home page.

You can use Twitter to communicate with people you know - friends and family. Additionally find new people who interest you, or both.

Use the ‘Find People’ option to search for profiles, and then click on ‘Follow’.

A tweet can include @Mentions to other users, hashtags, external links, images or simply text.

‘Retweet’ or RT is taking a tweet from one user and posting it yourself, automatically crediting the source, so that all of your followers can see the tweet.

Trending Topics or Trends are lists of a range of subjects which many users across Twitter are talking about simultaneously.

Lists - Users can organise the people they follow into lists of businesses or personalities which are related in some way.

Promoted Tweets - A single trending topic which a company or organisation can pay to ‘trend’, as to gain attention from Twitter users worldwide.

Prefacing a word with a ‘#’ will create a hashtag. A hashtag makes a certain word easily searchable. Hashtags can become trends.

DMs are direct messages. They go straight to the intended person that you are messaging. DMs cannot be seen by anyone other than yourself and the chosen recipient, and are thus more personal.

2012 through Twitter, looks back to the conversations, arguments, revelations and revolutions into a ‘review of the year’ as written by the Twitter community. Including profiles of top users and tweets, it captures the biggest events in current affairs, culture and sport - from the death of Whitney Houston to Superstorm Sandy, the great achievement of the London Olympics and to the re-election of Barack Obama.

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#Superbowl

Super BowlSuper Bowl fans had a lot to say about this year’s Giants-Patriots February 5th match. We saw 13.7 million Super Bowl-related Tweets during the game; 1 million of them appeared in the final 5 minutes. Tweets spiked when an incomplete pass by the Patriots sealed the Giants’ victory, at 201,466 Tweets per minute. Madonna’s halftime show saw 108,077 Tweets per minute.

January 30, 2012

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On February 11, news broke that Whitney Houston passed away unexpectedly at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Many of the superstar’s fans saw the news on Twitter, and tweeted to express their grief and share gratitude for her music. The news of her passing generated more than 10 million Tweets (73,662 Tweets per minute). Later, fans and performers saluted her with nearly 2 million Tweets during a live televised funeral and tribute.

@obeyMJ187,667 retweets3,095 favorites

February 12, 2012

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After a documentary highlighted the deeds of notorious Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Kony and his group LRA, Twitter users voiced their opposition: #StopKony trended worldwide. The documentary was made by the charity Invisible Children (IC). Besides #StopKony, people expressed their concern about the motives of the filmmaker and IC’s founder.

@Invisible / 583 retweets / 40 favorites / March 3, 2012

@IAmJermainDefoe / 2,713 retweets / 107 favorites / March 17, 2012

When footballer Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch with a heart attack, British football fans threw aside club rivalries to #PrayforMuamba - a phrase that was tweeted more than 700,000 times in March.

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@KButter5 / 1,721 retweets / 265 favorites / March 19, 2012

During March Madness, UNC point guard Kendall Marshall fractured his wrist, prompting fans to tweet messages of support to him with photos of their wrists — emblazoned with his number, 5.

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UEFA Champions League Semi-FinalIn April, fans around the world tuned in to watch the Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea. During the game, total global traffic on the platform peaked at 184,535 Tweets per minute following Fernando Torres’ goal to tie the game for Chelsea, making this single game one of the biggest sports-related Twitter moments this year.

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The National Zoo in Washington, D.C. live tweeted the artificial insemination of Mei Xiang, their beloved 13 year old Giant Panda. Panda fans tracked all of the details, including photos, via the hashtag #pandaAI.

@NationalZoo / 75 retweets / 46 favorites / April 30, 2012

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Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan tried her hand at a new form: a short story on Twitter. The New Yorker’s fiction desk serialized her story “Black Box” using the 140 character limit as a creative filter, to let the tale unfold in a compelling new way.

@NYerFiction / 40 retweets / 27 favorites / May 25, 2012

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@EmWatson / 6,126 retweets / 1,915 favorites / June 3, 2012

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@pdanahar / 70 retweets / 7 favorites / June 11, 2012

Stationed in Qubair, a small Muslim village in Syria, BBC Middle East Bureau Chief Paul Danahar frequently investigated reports of area uprisings and killings. At one point he didn’t have access to a broadcast camera - just his mobile phone. His compelling reportage took shape via his Tweets.

@yamachanoha / 67,135 retweets / 7,246 favorites / June 17, 2012

Translation:

“…I would like to announce here: I, Koichi Yamadera, have married Ms. Rie Tanaka … I am really happy to have met such a great partner and have our lives come together. We made up our minds to respect each other, help each other and build a home full of smiles…”

When actor Kouichi Yamadera announced in a Tweet that he registered for marriage with actress Rie Tanaka, it became the most retweeted message from Japan this year. Why? Both are prominent Japanese voice actors, famous for many of their anime roles.

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Egyptian citizens went to the polls in June to freely elect the first post-Mubarak presidential candidate. Tweets from Cairo offered a perspective on the new climate in Tahrir Square.

@Bassem_Sabry / 39 retweets / 6 favorites / June 24, 2012

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Before Euro 2012 got underway in July, international soccer legend Pelé joined Twitter in April, taking questions from his legions of fans.

@Bassem_Sabry / 39 retweets / 6 favorites / June 24, 2012

@Pele out of all the world cup finals you played, which one was your favorite #ASKPELE

@GusOrdaz World Cup Sweden at 17 years old. Youngest player to win #WorldCup. This you cannot forget.

Fifteen years ago, boxing champion Mike Tyson fought Evander Holyfield. What made headlines wasn’t who won - it was that Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s ear. At long last, this year, they have made peace.

@MikeTyson / 1,308 retweets / 117 favorites / June 29, 2012

@WBCBoxing just reminded me today is the anniversary of the ear biting incident. Love you @holyfield. You are

a true champion.

@MikeTyson @WBCBoxing as I recall u bit both of my ears....other 1 wasn't marinated n my RealDealBBQ

sauce. LOL! It's all good bro!

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@KingJames / 9,355 retweets / 1,053 favorites / July 1, 2012

UK superstar band Blur tweeted the news to their fans that they would release two new singles, their first in two years, and live-streamed their release.

@blurofficial / 303 retweets / 75 favorites / July 2, 2012

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SOPA/PIPATwo controversial anti-piracy bills under consideration in Congress (SOPA in the House, PIPA in the Senate) were hotly discussed Twitter topics. As debate heated up, “SOPA” on Twitter exploded from 106,000 mentions to 3.5 million 24 hours later. Similarly, in the same day, 86,500 “PIPA” mentions grew to more than 655,500.

July 17, 2012

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“Summer Wars” obsession Japanese anime movie “Summer Wars” was broadcast on Nihon TV in July. During the film, the main character hits the enter key and says, “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!” (“Please!”). Thousands of fans of both anime and Twitter created their own “live” event by tweeting that line exactly when the main character says it in the film.

July 20, 2012

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@London2012 / 1,223 retweets / 386 favorites / August 6, 2012

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@MarsCuriosity70,789 retweets14,685 favorites

August 6, 2012

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"29 gold, 17 silver, 19 bronze - We finished 3rd in medal table after most successful Olympics for 104 years

#OurGreatestTeam RT your support"

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@TeamGB / 67,025 retweets / 5,456 favorites / August 12, 2012

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@LaraEakins / 823 retweets / 353 favorites / September 20, 2012

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The space shuttle Endeavour’s final ride was on the back of modified Boeing 747 to its new home in Los Angeles. The trip included a fly-by through the San Francisco Bay Area, and space fans along the way captured and shared the remarkable sight.

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@jimmykimmel / 3,529 retweets / 661 favorites / September 24, 2012

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During the Emmys broadcast, host Jimmy Kimmel set up a live joke, encouraging the audience to tweet, “OMG Tracy Morgan passed out on stage.” The line instantly sparked Twitter conversation, and as people tuned in, they saw Kimmel and Morgan play it to the hilt.

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The Seattle Seahawks went head-to-head with the Green Bay Packers. The final play was called by a “replacement ref” due to a labour standoff with the referees’ union. TJ’s tweet became the most retweeted of the night - and of the NFL season overall.

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Suffering from a rare form of brain cancer, six-year-old Avalanna Routh was big Justin Bieber fan, and the pop star had grown close to her during her illness. When she passed away in September, Bieber paid tribute to her in a tweet, and many, many Twitter Beliebers responded.

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@kurikiyama_EN / 64 retweets / 43 favorites / October 17, 2012

Japanese mountaineer Nobukazu Kuriki (@kurikiyama_en) live-tweeted his way up Mount Everest. He did not make it to the top because of extreme winds and frostbite.

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#Sandy

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Superstorm SandyBetween October 27 and November 1, people sent more than 20 million Tweets about Sandy’s impact and aftermath. When the power went out in much of New York City, mobile usage from people there more than doubled from the previous two days. Afterwards, people sought ways to help: Tweets mentioning the word “donate” reached a 180 day peak; the phrase “donate blood” a 365 day peak.

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October 22, 2012 - October 31, 2012

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When “Skyfall,” the latest Bond movie, premiered, author and comedian Charlie Higson translated the original 12 Bond novels into 140 character Tweets. When you’re short of characters, 007 is one less than Bond.

@monstroso / 44 retweets / 14 favorites / October 23, 2012

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@neilyoung / 546 retweets / 252 favorites / October 24, 2012

Rock legend Neil Young joined Twitter and connected one by one with followers during a Twitter Q&A. Whether he talked about his latest album or his picks for the World Series, @NeilYoung charmed new and long-time fans.

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After being traded to the Houston Rockets, NBA guard James Harden made headlines, and got Twitter buzz. The fans weren’t the only ones caught off guard; players around the league weighed in on the trade as well.

@KDTrey5 / 24,220 retweets / 4,239 favorites / October 27, 2012

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According to Twitter, the election has become the most tweeted about event in US political history, with some 31 million poll-related posts fired out throughout day. When networks called the victory, Twitter went into manic overdrive, with election-related tweets rising to an average of 327,452 a minute.

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On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down after 28 years of dividing the city. On November 9, 2012, @9Nov89live captured the historic anniversary via Tweets. German citizens and many others joined the conversation using the hashtag #TwitternWie1989 (“tweeting like in 1989”) to share their very personal memories.

@9Nov89live / 53 retweets / 22 favorites / November 9, 2012

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Even after a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Juventus, Chelsea parting company with manager Roberto di Matteo came out of the blue for most fans. The news broke on Twitter with @ChelseaFC’s tweet. Later in the day Chelsea announced its new manager, Rafael Benítez via Twitter.

@chelseafc / 5,324 retweets / 177 favorites / November 21, 2012

Chelsea Football Club has parted company this morning with manager Roberto Di Matteo. More to

follow... #CFC

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Known for his public stands against Chinese government repression, artist Ai Weiwei has been placed under house arrest and is not allowed to travel outside China. He has turned to the Internet, and in particular to Twitter, to engage with the world. As he often says, “Twitter is [my] favorite city.”

@aiww / 37 retweets / 19 favorites / December 14, 2012

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The most retweeted tweet about the end of the world was the following, from Emoji account @EmojiStory, which was retweeted over 6,000 times.

@EmojiStory6,027 retweets1,321 favorites

November 19, 2012

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Within minutes of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announcing that they’re expecting a child, congratulatory tweets began to stream in from across the globe. Throughout the day, #RoyalBaby and related terms trended, and more than a million Tweets reflected keen interest in the next-gen royal.

@ClarenceHouse / 3,001 retweets / 819 favorites / December 12, 2012

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@PopeBenedictXIV / 378 retweets / 297 favorites / December 12, 2012

With thanks to Twitter for sourcing and compiling 2012, year on Twitter.

https://2012.twitter.com

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Image credits

C O M P I L E D B Y M E L I S A H A S A N

2012 through Twitter, looks back to the conversations, arguments, revelations and revolutions into a ‘review of the year’ as written by the Twitter community. Including profiles of top users and tweets, it captures the biggest events in current affairs, culture and sport - from the death of Whitney Houston to Superstorm Sandy, the great achievement of the London Olympics and to the re-election of Barack Obama.