Messages of love and gratitude shared by One Direction topped Twitter’s charts this year, eclipsing President Barack Obama’s celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing gay marriage. One Direction members accounted for half of the 10 most recirculated tweets, including the three most popular. All the One Direction tweets were either directed at bandmates or the group’s fans. None are likely to be remembered for heralding pivotal moments in history.
“All the love as always. H,” One Direction’s Harry Styles tweeted in March after Zayn Malik announced plans to leave the group. Styles boasts 26.3 million Twitter followers. The band’s other current and former members have amassed between 16.6 million and 23.7 million followers apiece.
Obama nabbed the fourth spot in the Twitter rankings released Monday with a June 26 tweet that hailed the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage as “a big step in our march toward equality.” Other tweets in Twitter’s Top 10 came from Kayne West calling for people to do everything they can, actor Leonard Nimoyphilosophizing five days before his death and Caitlyn Jenner introducing herself after her transition from one-time Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner.
Twitter also released some of the most popular topics, denoted by hashtags, that resonated with the more than 300 million users of its short-messaging service. The list included #JeSuisParis after last month’s terrorist attack in France, #BlackLivesMatter after police shootings of African-Americans in several U.S. cities, #LoveWins after the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage and #RefugeesWelcome as people fled the Middle East for Europe.
SPOTIFY UNVEILS NEW YEAR IN MUSIC FEATURE
A week after unleashing its Year in Music lists, documenting the most-streamed artists and songs of 2015, Spotify has released a new year-end feature that generates a personalized snapshot of your year in music. After logging in to spotify.com/2015, Spotify will make you your own Year in Music card that touts your first song played of the year, top songs, artist and genres, total minutes of played music and and total number of songs are artists. You can then share that card across your social networks. Or keep it to yourself as a reminder of what not to do in 2016.
Also, because Spotify loves helping you discover new music, it will generate a new “Play It Forward” playlist full of “tracks they’ll love” based on listening habits.
“From the internet falling back in love with Missy Elliott at the Super Bowl, to same-sex marriage being legalized in the US and Ireland, to man buns and selfie sticks exploding on the cultural scene, 2015 was a year to remember,” the streaming service wrote on its news blog. “Explore these and many other moments from the past year — and relive these memories through custom Spotify playlists.”
Drake was named the world’s most streamed artist and Rihanna the most streamed female artist in this year’s Year in Music lists. The most streamed song of the year was Major Lazer and DJ Snake‘s “Lean On” and the most streamed album was The Weeknd‘s Beauty Behind the Madness. Catch up on Spotify’s YiM here.
