There are only a few weeks left in the year, which always guarantees a few things: a plethora of unhealthy goodies lingering in offices, plenty of company holiday parties, and an onslaught of “Best Of” lists published both in print and online. We’ve curated and identified the “Best Of” lists straight from the social media platforms you care about as you research what worked in 2012 and look ahead to plan for your 2013 strategy. Here’s to pulling inspiration from those who have done it well this year and finally saying goodbye to certain things we’re more than happy to see go (we’re talking to you, “Honey Boo Boo”).
Twitter Blog: This Year on Twitter
This year, people were tweeting from near and far – literally. 2012 saw a tweet from the bottom of the ocean and straight from Mars. It was a year of huge events that sometimes brought Twitter to a standstill just based on the sheer volume of tweets coming through the platform: the Presidential Election, the Summer Olympics and Hurricane Sandy to name a few. The two most retweeted tweets from 2012 came from two individuals who probably won’t surprise you – President Obama and Justin Bieber. Read on to get a glimpse into the trends that shaped Twitter in 2012.
YouTube
DigiDay: The Best YouTube Brand Channels of 2012
While newer platforms like Pinterest and Instagram caught people’s attention this year, older channels like YouTube were still plugging away and providing volumes of social media content to fans and consumers. DigiDay has compiled a list of the best brand channels on YouTube over the past year based on total video views. If you’ve always imagined a strong YouTube presence for your brand, here’s a good place to start for inspiration. Hint: beverage brands represent three out of the top ten.
WebProNews: Facebook’s Top Trends of 2012
Just like Twitter, Facebook has revealed the top ten trends in 11 categories over the past year including what we talked about related to sports, movies, politics and technology. Scoring high across the board was Instagram, The Hunger Games, and the death of Whitney Houston. And despite our predictions for holding the number one spot, the super catchy pop tune “Call Me Maybe” ranked third out of the top ten music trends. Was your favorite book or movie represented in this year’s trends? Click to find out.
Google: Zeitgeist 2012
What did people in the United States search for in 2012? Much like the Facebook trend, Whitney Houston scored the top spot for highest trending search this year. Google has even shared the top searches under the categories, “How To” and “What Is” and the winners respectively are “How to love” (how sweet) and “What is Sopa?” If you’re a data lover and enjoy reminiscing over past search engine activity, this Zeitgeist is for you.
PRDaily: LinkedIn names the 12 best company pages
We couldn’t have said it better than PRDaily: “A possible resolution for your brand in 2013: improve your LinkedIn presence.” The majority of brands could follow this advice in the year ahead by learning from best practices of companies that are paving the way. LinkedIn’s recent upgrade to company pages is a great incentive to revamp your page since it’s easier than ever for members to follow your brand’s latest news, recruitment efforts and company culture updates.
