The most 'talked about' stories on Facebook. Any surprises?

The US presidential election was the most "talked about" topic on Facebook in 2016, in a year filled with discussion and debate on issues that were both serious and light-hearted.

The bitterly contested election in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton was ranked as the leading issue, followed by Brazil's political developments which included the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff, Facebook said in a blog post.



1. US Presidential Election

2. Brazilian Politics

3. Pokemon Go

4. Black Lives Matter

5. Rodrigo Duterte & Philippine Presidential Election

6. Olympics

7. Brexit

8. Super Bowl

9. David Bowie

10. Muhammad Ali

On the lighter side at number three was the runaway success of Pokemon Go, the location-based augmented reality game for smartphone users. Other subject matters shared among Facebook's 1.79 billion users were more sober, with the fourth leading topic the "Black Lives Matter" movement, followed by the election in the Philippines of Rodrigo Duterte.

Number six on the list was the Olympic games, followed by Brexit, the Super Bowl and the deaths of rock star David Bowie and boxing icon Muhammad Ali.

Facebook said it measured leading topics by how frequently an issue was mentioned in posts made between January 1 and November 27.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK



Facebook's first ranking of live videos saw a runaway victory by "Chewbacca Mom," from the Texas woman who donned a mask of the Star Wars character and laughed hysterically as she drove. The video has been viewed more than 160 million times. You can access your own personalised video that shows your most meaningful moments of 2016.

For the first time, Facebook also shared a list of the top ten global Live videos:

1. Candace Payne, Chewbacca Mom


2. Ted Yoder, Soundscapes


3. Buzzfeed, Countdown to the next presidential election


4. Atlanta Buzz, People are lining up to hug police officers in Dallas


5. NBC News, Election results


6. Under the Hood, Video of a truck completely carved out of wood


7. Viral Thread, Population count from US to CA


8. CNN, Election results on Empire State building


9. Dena Blizzard, Pokemon Go for moms “Chardonnay Go”


10. Super Deluxe, Election map