This article was published on December 5, 2018

Twitter’s 2018 recap was an odd mix of dogs, pop music, and ‘Wakanda forever!’


Twitter’s 2018 recap was an odd mix of dogs, pop music, and ‘Wakanda forever!’

Twitter today released its year-end recap, shining a light on what was most popular on the platform in 2018. Usually, one can make an educated guess based on whatever viral memes or political scandals were most discussed. However, this year it’s more of a grab bag of miscellaneous trends, from singers to puppies to Marvel movies.

If you’ve been paying attention at all to music in the last couple of years, it probably won’t be a surprise to see that Korean pop sensation BTS were tweeted more than actual birdsong this year (shout-out to my ARMY brothers and sisters). The year’s most-liked tweet combines their star power with memetic appeal, as my man J-Hope nails the “In My Feelings” challenge. They topped the lists of both most-tweeted-about celebrities and musicians. I’m sure all we’d have to do is get Jungkook and Jin to kick a soccer ball around in a live vid for five minutes and they’d top the list of most-tweeted-about athletes too (LeBron currently holds the title, natch).

Also, the second most-quoted tweet of the year was from the FIFA World Cup account during the event in Russia, asking which song should be played in the stadium. Of the four finalists, it came down a neck-and-neck race between BTS and fellow K-pop act EXO — Zedd and J Balvin might as well have not been on the ballot at all. EXO won by a nose, maybe because their song “Power,” is a bit more suited to a sporting event than BTS’s melancholy “Fake Love.”

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Another well-liked Tweet is from a woman named Chloe Copley and includes a video of her family’s two dogs. One needs ear medicine, and the other (named Cache) is apparently under the impression he needs it too, so his dad mimes squirting it into his ears and rubbing it in. As Copley says, “Nobody has the heart to tell him it’s pretend.” Personally, I think it’s just Cache’s ploy to make sure he gets his fair share of attention (and ear rubs).

On the list of most-retweeted is teenager Ryan Sesselman, who basically asked Twitter to retweet his picture of a fluffy pup at an adoption event in order to convince his mother to let him adopt her. It worked — the puppy’s name is Milli and she’s now a member of Sesselman’s family.

I’m starting to think Twitter is basically a teenage girl — endlessly infatuated with cute singers and puppies.

Other highlights of the year include the overwhelming popularity of Black Panther in the US. As far as films go, it beat out Best Picture winner The Shape of Water, Disney juggernauts The Incredibles 2 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and even fellow Marvel film (and the culmination of 10 years’ worth of build-up) Avengers: Infinity War. Wakanda forever, baby!

President Donald Trump was the most-discussed political figure, but that probably shocks no one. The day with the most tweets was February 25 — the same as the Olympics closing ceremony. And of course, Fortnite was the most popular game.

The second most-liked tweet came from former President Barack Obama, who tweeted his support of those who walked out as part of the Students Stand Up protest. That was third on the list of most-tweeted-about movements, after March for Our Lives and the NFL Protests.

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