With 2020 coming to a close, Twitter have revealed the biggest moments on the micro-blogging website this year, from Paul Mescal reminding the world he’s a proud Irish lad, to the US Presidential election, and of course Covid-19.
It’s no surprise that #Covid19 and #Coronavirus were the top used hashtags of the year, while #ActsOfKindness were also big on Twitter during 2020. Helen O’Rahilly used Twitter to coordinate volunteers in her vicinity, but the hashtag #SelfIsolationHelp caught on nationwide with thousands of people across the country signing up to help.
Comedian Alison Spittle entertained the nation during lockdown by creating the #CovideoParty community, organising a way for Irish people to watch movies with thousands of virtual friends. Some of the movies people came together to watch were Clueless, Matilda and Jumanji. Alison even encouraged people to dress up as characters from the films, Tweeting pics of her costumes.
The TV adaption of Sally Rooney’s Normal People was a highlight of the early months of the year, with actor Paul Mescal (and #ConnellsChain) becoming instant sensations. When Paul was nominated for an Emmy and some other outlets tried to claim he was British, the Maynooth man’s succinct “I’m Irish” Tweet set the record straight, and also became the most liked Tweet on Irish Twitter in 2020.
I’m Irish.
— Paul Mescal (@mescal_paul) July 29, 2020
Irish Twitter was actively following and talking about #GE2020 back in February, and it was also the year when the world – and Ireland – stood up for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Other topics Ireland’s eyes followed this year were #GolfGate and Brexit.
When it came to international news stories Irish people were discussing, the next two biggest stories were Liverpool becoming Premier League champions, as well as Donald Trump and the US Presidential Election in November.
For the second year running Irish Twitter showed its grá for reality show Love Island, placing it top of the list of most talked about entertainment moments on Irish Twitter. This was followed closely by the aforementioned #CovideoParty. The Late Late Show remained as popular as ever, along with Marianne, Connell and their romantic ups and downs in Normal People.
Other popular tweets in Ireland this year included when the country collectively showed its appreciation to @CMOIreland Tony Holohan when he announced he was talking time away to spend with his family early this summer, and when we mourned the sad and untimely passing of actor Chadwick Boseman in August.
Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic was the most discussed news hashtag on Twitter during 2020, @realdonaldtrump was the most mentioned politician, @Flamengo_en were top sports team, @kobebryant the top athlete, @BTS_twt remain atop the list of most discussed musicians worldwide, and when it came to gaming #nintendoswitch and #animalcrossing were the top hashtags.
Check out our Twitter blog for more info about what happened on Twitter around the world during 2020.
