Facebook reflects on the year 2013 in Australia and Worldwide and reveals top trends this year
Today, Facebook is taking a look back at the people, moments and places that mattered most on Facebook in 2013.
Conversations happening all over Facebook offer a unique snapshot of the world, and this year was no different. Every day, people post about the topics and milestones that are important to them – everything from announcing an engagement, to discussing breaking news, or even celebrating a favourite athlete or sports team.
Facebook has analysed the past year’s worth of these posts to reveal the top trends for 2013.
Below you will find:
- The top ten mentions more than a billion people on Facebook shared in 2013
- The top 10 mentions from the 12 million Australians – 2013 focused on sport and politics
- The top Major Life Events updates made by Australians – looks likes Aussies were enjoying relationships and doing a lot of travel in 2013
- Where Australian’s and the rest of the world were checking-in on Facebook – Melbourne is a popular check-in city
- For those sport crazed, entertainment loving or political followers, Facebook has broken out the top five mentions for each vertical to show who/what Australian’s are talking about most
Overall Mentions
Top Ten most talked about topics – Global
1. Pope Francis
2. Election
3. Royal Baby
4. Typhoon
5. Margaret Thatcher
6. Harlem Shake
7. Miley Cyrus
8. Boston Marathon
9. Tour de France
10. Nelson Mandela
Top Ten most talked about topics- Australia
1. Vote
2. Princess Kate
3. Cricket
4. Kevin Rudd
5. Grand final
6. Election
7. GST
8. Lions
9. Tony Abbott
10. Big Brother
- Whether its reality TV or the 2013 election – democracy was alive and well in Australia in 2013.
- The most buzzed about term by the 12 million Australians who actively use Facebook each month was the word “vote”. The federal election, sport and the royal family dominated the top ten most buzzed about terms by Australians on Facebook in 2013.
- Recent research undertaken by TNS and commissioned by Facebook shows that Australians are increasingly accessing Facebook via a mobile device (81%). Also, 70% are using Facebook from multiple devices – desktop, phone and/or tablet.
- Australians were more focused on politics than entertainment this year – in 2012, the top ten most mentioned terms were sport and entertainment: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151465492292415&set=a.10151465491972415.453022.363337977414&type=3&theater In 2012, we buzzed the most about One Direction, Big Brother, the Voice, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey and Gangnam Style. But in 2013, Big Brother was the only highly buzzed about term, just squeezing in at No. 10.
- Sport continues to be a favourite topic amongst Australians with the cricket, the grand finals and the Lions all making the list. Last year, only the Olympics and the Swans winning the AFL Grand Final made the cut.
- The big news this year was the birth of the royal baby. Princess Kate was the second most buzzed about term by Australians on Facebook. When Prince George was born on 22 July this year, there were over 19 million related mentions on Facebook and Australia was the 5th country discussing it, after Great Britain, the US, Canada and Italy. See: https://www.facebook.com/FacebookAU/posts/10151839768777415 https://www.facebook.com/FacebookAU/posts/10151843503312415
- Politics and the 27th September federal election was also a big trend this year, with five of the top ten issues being political and the word “vote” topping the list overall. During the election campaign, there were over 12 million election-related mentions during the election campaign: https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/2013-election-on-facebook/603926652979814 and there were over 1 million posts on Facebook on election day talking about voting and the experience of voting.
- On election day itself, the term “vote” started trending at 7am, just before polls opened, and spiked at 10am during the day, and again at 10pm with over 60,000 at that time, as Mr Abbott delivered his victory speech.
Major Life Event – Australia
1. Added a relationship, got engaged or got married
2. Travelled
3. Moved
4. Ended a relationship
5. Added a family member, had a baby, expecting a baby
6. First met
7. Got a pet
8. Lost a loved one
9. Got a piercing
10. Quit a habit
11. Listed themselves as an organ donor
12. Bought a car
13. Got a new hobby
14. Achieved something new
15. Retired
In 2013, it seems Australians were well loved and well-travelled.
- The top Major Life Event used by Australians were those that let their friends and family know that they had started a new relationship, got engaged or got married.
- The next most popular life event was “travelled”.
- People can choose to use the Life Event option on their Timeline to highlight different experiences. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/help/search/?query=life%20events
Where are Australian’s and the rest of the world checking-in? Check-ins – Global
1. Disneyland
2. Siam Paragon
3. Times Square NYC
4. Central Plaza Ladphrao
5. Disney California Adventure
6. CentralWorld
7. The O2
8. Epcot – Walk Disney World
9. Dodger Staidum
10. AT&T Park
Check-ins – Australia
1. MCG
2. Crown Melbourne
3. Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
4. Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
5. Darling Harbour, Sydney
6. Sydney Opera House, Sydney
7. Dreamworld Australia, Gold Coast
8. The Star, Sydney
9. Bondi Beach, Sydney
10. ANZ Stadium, Sydney
- The Melbourne Cricket Ground continues to be the most checked in place in Australia. Last year, the ‘G’ also topped the list: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151465492327415&set=a.10151465491972415.453022.363337977414&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ash2%2F481676_10151465492327415_1659292300_n.jpg&size=960%2C720 Not only is the MCG the most checked in place in Australia, it is the 18th most checked-in place globally!! And the only Australian venue in the top 25 most checked in places on Facebook globally.
- In 2013, Melbourne was by far the most social city by check-ins than Sydney. In 2012, Sydney has three of the top five most checked-in places in the country (Darling Harbour, ANZ Stadium, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Opera House). But in 2013, only one of the top five is in Sydney – with Darling Harbour slipping to 5th and the other top four being Melbourne-based.
- The most checked-in place in Perth is the Perth Arena, the most checked-in place in Brisbane is Suncorp Stadium; and, in Adelaide it’s the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
- In recent research undertaken by TNS and commissioned by Facebook Aussies on Facebook, there has been a 53% increase in people using Facebook to check-in.
- Check-ins are a feature of Facebook that allow people to let their friends know that they are at a particular location: https://www.facebook.com/help/www/461075590584469 With the rollout of Graph Search, check-ins are a powerful way for local businesses to be discovered and share information. It is still early days in our rollout of Graph Search, but what we are seeing — beyond discovering things in News Feed or on people’s Timelines – is that people were seeking out information on people and Pages. Graph Search helps people do this more easily.
Deep Dive into Vertical Sectors – Australia
Sport
1. Cricket
2. Grand final
3. Lions
4. Roosters
5. Rugby
6. Essendon
7. NRL
8. V8
9. Wallabies
10. Socceroos
- Australia’s love of sport was confirmed in this year’s 2013 trends on Facebook. Three of the overall top ten most mentioned terms by Australians on Facebook in 2013 were related to sport.
- The third most mentioned term overall was “cricket”, the term “grand final” was the 5th and the Lions were the 8th most talked about thing by Australians on Facebook this year.
- Looking specifically at sporting terms, the top ten show our passion for cricket dominates overall but we definitely love our Aussie Rules, rugby union league, as well as the V8s and soccer.
- Confirming the popularity of cricket, is not just the fact that cricket is one of the most mentioned terms by Australians on Facebook in 2013 but also the fact that there were over 2 million Ashes-related mentions during the recent first game of the series: https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/2013-ashes-how-the-first-game-was-shared-on-facebook-and-instagram/641695875869558
- On the day of the Bathurst 1000, there were over one million race-related mentions: https://www.facebook.com/FacebookAU/posts/10151987905662415
- And on NRL grand final day, the term “grand final” started trending early on Saturday afternoon, but underdogs Manly were more buzzed about than the winners, the Sydney Roosters: https://www.facebook.com/FacebookAU/posts/10151977294792415
- Sport is a natural fit for a social platform such as Facebook as people share their enjoyment of the game with their friends, comment on the performances they are witnessing and even check-in at the event. This is possibly why cricket is the 3rd most mentioned term on Facebook this year, at the same time Melbourne Cricket Ground is the most checked-in place in Australia.
Entertainment
1. Big Brother
2. The Voice
3. One Direction
4. Breaking Bad
5. Beyoncé
- The reality TV show Big Brother continues to captivate Australia. In 2012, it was the second most buzzed about term and in 2013 it was the 10th most mentioned topic. However, compared against all other TV, movies, and music, it was the most mentioned overall, with The Voice being the second most buzzed about show.
- In 2012, One Direction was the top mentioned term by Australians on Facebook but in 2013, they did not even make the top ten. However, compared with all other TV, movies and music, they are the third most mentioned thing, with Beyoncé – who toured Australia this year – being the 5th.
- The show Breaking Bad, which saw a massive spike in mentions around its finale earlier this year, was the 4th most mentioned in the entertainment vertical.
- TV and Facebook are a natural fit. Recent research undertaken by TNS and commissioned by Facebook – Aussies on Facebook – found that 38% of Australian Facebook users regularly engage on the site whilst watching TV with up to 88% saying they do so at least once a month.
- For movies and music, Facebook can drive audience and revenues. Aussies on Facebook found that over 50% of those who received information or recommendations on Facebook about products or services have bought or are likely to buy a product, the most influenced se
gment is men 35+. And of the top product categories bought by men, 43% have bought music and 39% have paid for movies. For women, 31% have paid for movies and 24% have bought music.
Public figures
1. Princess Kate
2. Kevin Rudd
3. Tony Abbott
4. Julia Gillard
5. Miranda Kerr
- In terms of public figures, our political leaders were no match for Princess Kate, who topped the list. But apparently, the three people who served as Prime Minister in 2013 – Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard – were all more buzz-worthy than Australian model Miranda Kerr!
- Interestingly, Kevin Rudd was the most talked about political overall in 2013 – this is despite Mr Abbott being most mentioned during the election campaign period: https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/2013-election-on-facebook/603926652979814
- During both the March 2013 leadership spill and the June 2013 spill, which saw him return to the Prime Ministership, Mr Rudd was the most mentioned spill-related term: https://www.facebook.com/AussieDemocracyonFacebook/posts/550765298278419 andhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=169590189879300&set=a.146401578864828.1073741825.130343040470682&type=1 And his recent resignation from the Parliament would also have caused an increase in mentions.
Political Issues
1. GST
2. Asylum seekers
3. NBN
4. Gay Marriage
5. Immigration
- Politics and the election dominated buzz on Facebook in 2013.
- There were big spikes in mentions around key political events in 2013 such as the March and June Labor leadership spills, the Budget and, of course, the election.
- Interestingly, the top most mentioned political issue by Australians on Facebook overall this year is the GST, followed by asylum seekers, then the NBN, gay marriage and the topic immigration.
- During the election campaign, however, it was the Budget and the economy that was most discussed, with gay marriage being the second most mentioned topic, asylum seekers being the third most discussed topic, the NBN coming in 4th and climate change as the 5th most buzzed about issue: https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/2013-election-on-facebook/603926652979814