And the Top Facebook Status Trend Is…

Facebook is the world’s source for information, entertainment, communication, and the minutia
of hundreds of millions of people around the globe. The status updates reflect an astonishing
variety of interests on the part of account holders, which makes looking at the top Facebook
status trends of 2010 somewhat of an exercise in sociology, psychology, and anthropology. So
what were people talking about this year?

Events, movies, and, of course, themselves. This is what has captivated Facebook users over the
course of 2010. The rescue of the Chilean miners was a topic of intense discussion, particularly
in the hours leading up to the rescue of Florencio Avalos, the first miner to be brought to the
surface after 69 days 2000 feet below ground. The Haitian earthquake also caused a Facebook
and Twitter frenzy, particularly as Haitians tried to use these forums to contact family members.
The first status was posted within one minute of the quake. After four minutes, about 120
firsthand reports were coming in per minute, and after one day, there were 1800 posts per minute
discussing the devastating earthquake.

A world away, movies ranked high on Facebook users’ statuses. They were talking about
Inception, Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2, and, of course, the Twilight saga.
Another entertainment event took a top spot on the status list: the World Cup was much
discussed on both Twitter and Facebook. Incredibly, during the start of the games and the finals,
about half of all status updates were related to soccer’s biggest event. Justin Bieber mania struck
as countless pre-teens made their voices heard.

But really, when it comes down to it, what do Facebook users care about? Talking. Preferably
about themselves. HMU was the number one status of 2010. Hit me up. Call me, text me, email
me, message me. The acronym barely registered in 2009, but its use exploded this year. At
summer’s end, more than 80,000 posts featured “HMU.” Of course, they could be talking about
hydromechanical units or Hanoi Medical University – but we doubt it.