Filed under: Facebook
Day after day, Facebook captures our best and worst moments, from the birth of a new baby to heated political spats. What's popular? Facebook has a good gauge based on what people type into the box that says, "What's on your mind?"
On Tuesday, the company released top 10 lists for 2014, based on the number of posts, comments, likes, photos and videos shared. The list Facebook is a testament to its global reach, given that more than 80 percent of Facebook users live outside the U.S. and Canada.
Worldwide topics -- the World Cup soccer tournament and the Ebola outbreak -- occupied the top two spots. But No. 3 was the presidential election in Brazil. Facebook says some 48 million people had 674 million interactions -- status updates, photos, videos, comments and likes -- about the highly contested event. That made it the most talked-about election of 2014 -- even more than the congressional midterms in the U.S.
"At its best, social media makes the world a smaller place and builds community on a global level," Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said in an interview.
| Around the World | In the U.S. |
| 1. World Cup | 1. Ebola virus outbreak |
| 2. Ebola virus outbreak | 2. Ice Bucket Challenge |
| 3. Elections in Brazil | 3. Robin Williams |
| 4. Robin Williams | 4. Super Bowl |
| 5. Ice Bucket Challenge | 5. Michael Brown and Ferguson |
| 6. Conflict in Gaza | 6. World Cup |
| 7. Malaysia Airlines | 7. Conflict in Gaza |
| 8. Super Bowl | 8. Midterm elections |
| 9. Michael Brown and Ferguson | 9. Malaysia Airlines |
| 10. Sochi Winter Olympics | 10. ISIS |
