Just released on the Facebook blog,
the status trends of 2009 make for some very interesting reading. In many ways they mirror the results of
Google's search trends, but I have to admit that Facebook has the edge here because it's
personal.
Rather than simply being 'interesting' -- great, Michael Jackson was the #1
Google trend in 2009 --
Facebook status updates are
juicy. It's worth noting that these are just results from the U.S., which is probably why 'health care' and 'religion' rank so highly. But I imagine the number two trend of 2009, '
FML' and 'swine flu' at number three have a more universal appeal.
The by-month graphs are the best bit: you can see that 'FML' was rife during the exam period in May but much less common in the hazy, drunken summer months. Coming in at number 13 is the word 'yard' -- the guys at Facebook are at a loss as to why 'yard' might have gained so much traction in the past year. The only sensible explanation is that more oldies/parent-types have joined Facebook this year -- or perhaps they're simply talking about their
FarmVille yard.
FarmVille, incidentally, comes in as the number 1 trend of the year.
Tags: facebook, farmville, statistics, status, trends, zeitgeist
