The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Brexit and Trump’s election win top most discussed list
Facebook: Social media site releases topics that people were talking about in 2016
Brexit and the US election were the most discussed topics on Facebook in the UK this year, the social network has revealed.
The vote to leave the European Union was named the biggest trend of the year in Facebook’s Year in Review, with Donald Trump’s victory in second place ahead of Euro 2016.
Reaction and discussion around David Bowie’s death made the singer the fourth biggest trend, with another election – Sadiq Khan’s as mayor of London – completing the top five.
Facebook is the world’s largest social network with more than 1.7 billion active monthly users.
The Rio summer Olympics and mobile game Pokemon Go were also trending topics, while the death of Muhammad Ali, the terror attack in Brussels and the murder of MP Jo Cox completed the UK top 10.
Brexit also featured in the global trend list, reaching number seven.
Facebook also revealed its most popular Facebook Live videos for the year, having launched the broadcasting service, which is available to users of the social network as a means to stream live to the world, in April.
The biggest Live video of the year came from Candace Payne, also known as “Chewbacca Mom”, after she livestreamed herself wearing a mask of the famous Star Wars character.
The video has been watched more than 2.9 million times, and has been shared over 3.3 million times.
The social network is also rolling out personalised “year in review” videos to Facebook users, which the company says will contain “meaningful moments from 2016” that can be edited and shared with friends on the site.