While Justin Trudeau, K-Pop and Drake were among the most-mentioned topics on Twitter Canada this year, there was another huge theme in 2018.
READ MORE: Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir to be remembered as Canada’s faces of 2018 Winter Olympics
“It was a year for big stories in sports on the Olympics,” Twitter Canada’s Christopher Doyle told Global News. “Scott and Tessa being among the most-mentioned athletes.
“What a tremendous story.
“The entire country and almost the entire world sort of got rolled up in their story. To me, that was pretty special just to kind of see everything they put into their careers. They also just happen to be fantastic to follow on Twitter.”
Among Canadian athletes, only NBA pro Tristan Thompson had more mentions than Tessa and Scott, perhaps due to his Kardashian connection.
Other most-mentioned in 2018:
- Justin Trudeau was Canada’s most-mentioned politician for the fourth straight year (Doug Ford was second)
- Jason Kenney was Alberta’s most-mentioned politician (and top five most-mentioned Canadian politician for third straight year)
- K-Pop group BTS was Canada’s most-mentioned account in 2018 (Selena Gomez was most-mentioned individual entertainment celebrity by Canadians)
- Drake was most-mentioned Canadian musician (ousting Justin Bieber)
Watch below: Twitter Canada released its year-in-review statistics on Wednesday. Emily Mertz takes a look at some of the highlights for Edmonton.
Connor McDavid was the 11th most-mentioned Canadian athlete overall. It’s the first time since he was drafted that he wasn’t in the top 10 most-mentioned Canadian athletes. He was in the top five in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He also finished below former Oiler Taylor Hall, who was 10th.
Most-mentioned Canadian teams:
1. Toronto Raptors (@Raptors)
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs)
3. Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)
*9. Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers)
“We always talk about how on-ice or on-field performance impacts the Twitter mentions,” Doyle said.
“Obviously McDavid has been one of the top most-mentioned athletes in Canada since we’ve been keeping track of this data. It’s interesting to see there are some struggles with the team so you see a little bit of dip there but I think there’s still such an increase in Tweet volume around hockey every single year.”
READ MORE: Connor McDavid scores beauty as Edmonton Oilers win third straight
In the political sphere, the amount of mentions on Twitter can be predictive of election results, Doyle says, but not always.
“It depends on the sentiment around those tweets.”
Most-mentioned Canadian politicians in 2018:
1. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau)
2. Doug Ford (@fordnation)
3. Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer)
*8. Michelle Rempel (@MichelleRempel)
*11. Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley)
READ MORE: Premier Notley disappointed with Ottawa’s response to Alberta oil bottleneck
Most-mentioned Canadian premiers (sitting) on Twitter in 2018:
1. Doug Ford – Ontario (@fordnation)
2. Rachel Notley – Alberta (@RachelNotley)
3. John Horgan – BC (@jjhorgan)
“Taking a look at who was the most-talked-about in sports news and entertainment is sort of fun,” Doyle said. “But I think also there’s a bigger thing you’re looking at and that’s what was really on the minds of Canadians.
“We do that a lot going into elections as well. We always pull data around what are the most-talked-about issues? If Canadians are talking about it on Twitter, that means it’s a priority for them.”
Scroll down for more lists of Canadian Twitter highlights from 2018.
When did Twitter traffic peak in Edmonton in 2018?
“The most-mentioned one was really interesting,” Doyle said. “A peak specifically for Edmonton when they were named as a host city for the 2026 World Cup, which was absolutely taking over the platform when that announcement came through with a joint bid with U.S. and Mexico.
READ MORE: Edmonton likely but not guaranteed to host 2026 World Cup games: ‘There’s more work to do’
“Super exciting for the entire country with Edmonton announced as a host city. Obviously they’ve got a long history of hosting big soccer matches.”
1. June 12, 2016: Edmonton announced as a host city for 2026 World Cup
2. June 16, 2018: Shawn Mendes plays Rogers Place
3. Aug. 30, 2018: Harassment at Clareview Superstore – viral video
4. Feb. 2, 2018: Justin Trudeau town hall at MacEwan University
Calgary versus Edmonton in 2018:
- Calgary had 44 per cent more mentions than Edmonton in 2018
- Mayor Naheed Nenshi had 59 per cent more mentions than Mayor Don Iveson
- Oilers had 23 per cent more mentions than the Flames
- Stampeders had 17 per cent more mentions than Eskimos
- The most-mentioned Oilers (Connor McDavid) had 405 per cent more mentions than the most-mentioned Flame (Johnny Gaudreau)
Canada’s most-liked Tweet in 2018 was from Barack Obama
Canada’s most-mentioned celebrities of 2018 (Canadian Personalities):
· Musical Act: Drake
· Actor (male): Ryan Reynolds
· Actor (female): Shay Mitchell
· Athlete (male): Tristan Thompson
· Athlete (female): Tessa Virtue
· Sports Team: Toronto Raptors
· Politician: Justin Trudeau
Canada’s most-mentioned global entertainment celebrities (individuals) in 2018:
1. Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)
2. Kanye West (@kanyewest)
3. Drake (@Drake)
Most-mentioned Canadian musicians:
1. Drake (@drake)
2. Shawn Mendes (@ShawnMendes)
3. Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)
Most-mentioned Canadian actors (male):
1. Ryan Reynolds (@VanCityReynolds)
2. Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey)
3. Seth Rogen (@sethrogen)
Most-mentioned Canadian actors (female):
1. Shay Mitchell (@shaymitch)
2. Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev)
3. Sandra Oh (@IamSandraOh)
Most-mentioned Canadian athlete (male):
1. Tristan Thompson (@RealTristan13) – basketball
2. Scott Moir (@ScottMoir) – ice dancing
3. John Tavares (@91Tavares) – hockey
Most-mentioned Canadian athlete (female):
1. Tessa Virtue (@tessavirtue) – ice dancing
2. Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) – tennis
3. Brooke Henderson (@BrookeHenderson) – golf
Most-mentioned Canadian mayors (sitting) on Twitter in 2018:
1. John Tory – Toronto (@JohnTory)
2. Patrick Brown – Brampton (@patrickbrownont)
3. Val Plante – Montreal (@ValPlante)
*4. Naheed Nenshi
*7. Don Iveson
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