Let me start by pointing out that as I write this Friday morning, "Hard Nipples" and "Atlas Shrugged" are currently two of the top Twitter Trending Topics. Alas, the memes are not related. The latter has to do with the critically-loathed film adaptation of the Ayn Rand novel (at the moment it has a Metacritic score of just 22 out of 100), in theaters today. And it seems that the former trend is surging thanks in large part to widespread retweeting of a tweet from a fake Rebecca Black account, @_RebeccaBlack_: "Fridays give me hard nipples." Duly noted.
The Twittersphere Bashes Annoying Twitterers

As for our regular Friday Top 10 Trending Topics on Twitter chart -- produced, as always, with our editorial partner What the Trend (WTT) -- pop star Justin Bieber makes a triumphant return to the No. 1 spot, thanks in part to the controversy surrounding his visit to the Middle East. (See "Diplomatic Breakdown Amid Bieber Fever in Israel" from The New York Times. I still can't tell if that headline was meant to be wry or not; hard to tell with the Times sometimes.) And Britney Spears is back in our Top 10, too, together with Rihanna, thanks to Brit's remix of Rihanna's "S&M."
Notably, six out of 10 of the Top 10 are so-called hashtag trends. (Background: Twitter Has Pretty Much Officially Become a Gaming Platform.) The most telling one this week is surely #themostannoyingtweeters. If you were hoping the Twittersphere would name names, well, sorry. The most retweeted tweets associated with the meme have to do with violations of Twitter etiquette (such that it is). For example: "#themostannoyingtweeters are the ones who try to tweet serious shit but cant spell so you cant take them serious," "#themostannoyingtweeters the people who think just because they hit follow you supposed to do the same shit" and "# themostannoyingtweeters are the ones that tweet depressing/sad shit onto your timeline. Ugh!"
Clearly, saying "shit" constantly is no violation whatsoever of Twitter etiquette.
And here we come full circle, with a tweet from @BigAlien ("Warcraft playing, gadget loving, Spider-Woman obsessed, photo taking, beer drinking, slightly deviant geek"): "Good grief - they've made a film of Atlas Shrugged! What, the book wasn't shit enough?"
How is this chart made? See Notes, below.
Trend | Intensity | Points | Crowdsourced Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Justin Bieber | 3 | 6,627 | Justin Bieber fans from around the world are tweeting
encouragement after Bieber complained about being harassed by
paparazzis while in Israel. Also, fans in Latin America want his
film to be released there.
See whatthetrend.com for a complete list of
subtrends.
|
|
2 | #LiesPeopleTell | 2 | 5,178 | Users are sharing lies that some people tell each other. | |
3 | #ItsSadWhen | 2 | 4,052 | Things people do or say that make others sad. | |
4 | #IWasThinkin | 2 | 3,659 | What users are thinking about. | |
5 | #AGoodBoyfriend | 1 | 2,772 | People are tweeting the qualities that make a good boyfriend and the things a good boyfriend does. | |
6 | #OnlyInTheGhetto | 1 | 2,522 | Things that only happen in certain neighborhoods. | |
7 | Rihanna-Britney Spears | 1 | 2,495 | Rihanna and Britney Spears have done a duet for a new remix of
Rihanna's S&M. Fans of both artists are enthusiastic about the
collaboration.
Subtrends include: Rihanna & Britney, RihannaBritneyVideo,
RIHmix, Brittany Spears
|
|
8 | #TheMostAnnoyingTweeters | 1 | 2,383 | Users are sharing qualities of fellow users on Twitter that drive them nuts. | |
9 | Dream Concert | 1 | 2,183 | People are naming their artist combos for their dream concert. | |
10 | European soccer/football | 1 | 1,822 | Soccer fans were talking about Stan Kroenke, owner of the
Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche, who is set to take over
Arsenal F.C. after agreeing to buy key shares in the club. It has
also been revealed that fan-favorite Gary Neville will play one
last game for Manchester United.
See whatthetrend.com for a complete list of
subtrends.
|
|
NOTES
1. WTT tracks the appearance of topics on the Twitter Trending Topics list and each week ranks the subjects with the most cumulative staying power. Explanations of trends are solicited from WTT users, Wikipedia-style; a community-voting system is designed to highlight the best explanations while burying lame or prank explanations. 2. For the purposes of this chart, we collect and process data until 12 midnight EST on Thursday night before each Friday's publication. 3. Ad Age works with WTT to consolidate multiple threads of chatter into one position on the chart when it's clear related Twitter conversations are basically all about the same topic, even if they use different keywords. 4. In WTT's proprietary trend-tracking system, points are awarded for both duration and rank in the top 10 trending topics on Twitter. The longer the duration, and the higher the overall rank, the more points are awarded. Measurements are taken in five-minute increments. 5. The crowdsourced trend explanations above are quoted as they appear on WTT, and therefore may have stylistic and grammatical quirks that don't adhere to normal Ad Age editorial standards. |
For more information about What the Trend, visit the WTT FAQ. And check out WTT's Week in Review, compiled by its in-house editors and covering an expanded general list of Top 20 trends (including hashtag trends) here.
Simon Dumenco is the "Media Guy" media columnist for Advertising Age. You can follow him on Twitter @simondumenco.