Facebook has revealed its top global trends as well as top moments of 2020 for India, dividing the list into six themes based on the most discussed events of the culminating year.
2020 witnessed the passing of several iconic faces across different fields, starting with legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant's demise in January. This was the most talked about moment on Facebook, with users from the US, Mexico, and the Philippines dominating the post-count on the topic. The death of US Supreme Court Justice RBG - Ruth Badger Ginsberg - also garnered worldwide online attention, with posts laden with the hashtag #restinpower crossing 60 lakh across Facebook and Instagram in one day.
In India, the death of prominent faces such as Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, and Pranab Mukherjee, were the most commemorated.
The COVID-19 pandemic predictably emerged as the most popular event talked about in many contexts and trending in many different events. During March 2020, about 15 lakh people from Spain trended #aplausosanitario in order to pay an ode to its health workers. The unfortunate predicament of Italy towards the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the consequent lockdown in the country saw residents in high numbers taking to Facebook and Instagram Live to share videos of them singing in their balconies. The wholesome socially-distant gathering provided the world with some temporary catharsis, uplifting human spirits globally.
About India, Facebook has said that its fundraiser feature along with the 'I for India' fundraiser concert witnessed more than 85 artists participating and raising funds for those worst affected by the pandemic and the lockdown. Live streams from pages in the country had also tripled in June 2020 as against 2019.
Relief for natural disasters also emerged as an important issue on the social media, with more than 13 lakh people globally raising over Rs 250 crore to aid in the rehabilitation of the areas affected by the Australian wildfires. Facebook declared this to be the largest fundraiser to have ever been held on the tech-giant's social media platform. In India, there were fundraiser concerts including the '#BeForBENGAL' concert to raise funds for the victims of Cyclone Amphan.
The awareness for the 'Black Lives Matter' movement also tripled this year, with posts mentioning the campaign averaging 75 lakh every day. This was three weeks after the killing of George Floyd, the event that triggered global backlash.
The US presidential election that culminated last month was also among the major events of 2020. In August, when Kamala Harris' Vice Presidential candidacy was announced, the event saw more than one crore posts per day. This is attributed to Indians in high numbers talking about it as well, given Harris' Indian lineage.
The biggest week for group video calls on Facebook's Messenger was the holiday week for Easter and Passover in April 2020. With festivals moving online as well, Diwali in India also witnessed more than 75 lakh posts on Facebook 2020 from October 20 to November 10.
In a first, Facebook has made public the list of top cultural moments of this year. The selection criteria was to look at the levels of interaction generated across Facebook's apps. These are:
- Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance" documentary
- Dave Chappelle's Netflix special
- Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's "WAP"
- Harry Styles - Golden song release
- Los Angeles Lakers win the 2020 NBA Championship
- Katy Perry announces her pregnancy via music video
- "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion
- Shakira and Jennifer Lopez's Super Bowl halftime performance
- Netflix's "Tiger King"
- Andrea Bocelli's Easter performance from Milan, Italy