Despite a deep playoff run for the Winnipeg Jets and a re-election victory for mayor Brian Bowman, the best-loved Winnipeg tweet in 2018 was a sarcastic “curling riot” video by a local man.
Colin Lougheed’s video tweet of the ‘riot’ that happened after the local curling team skipped by Jennifer Jones won the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February racked up 35,200 likes and more than one million views.
According to Twitter’s year-end trend report, the Jets ranked sixth nationwide among popular sports teams mentioned on the platform.
“In the years that we’ve been tracking this, as you can imagine, 2018 had the most mentions and the most conversation overall with the Jets and their playoff run,” said Cameron Gordon, head of communications for Twitter Canada.
“It also helps that a number of Jets players are active on Twitter, like Blake Wheeler, (Patrik) Laine, the goalie’s on it, all sorts of people are on it. When the players jump in on it, it definitely helps.”
The Jets finished behind three Toronto teams – the Raptors, Maple Leafs and Blue Jays – as well as the Montreal Canadiens and the Humboldt Broncos, who were an unexpected addition to the list after the bus crash that killed more than a dozen players in April.
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Laine, however, did earn credit as the most-mentioned NHL player on Twitter for the month of November – the same month that saw him score five goals in one game.
Winnipeg politicians like mayor Brian Bowman also didn’t make the cut nationally, despite prominent Twitter profiles here at home.
Gordon told 680 CJOB on Friday that local politics can potentially benefit the most from the social platform.
“Twitter might be the most well-suited to local politics because it’s so conversational,” he said. “If you’re tweeting to your city councillor or even the mayor of a city the size of Winnipeg, you might get some engagement there.
“You can really be part of the conversation at the grassroots level.
“It really depends on the personality and the content they’re putting out,” he said. “If you’re a politician who might be a bit controversial, you’ll get a lot of conversation on both sides.”
Other figures who were mentioned the most on Canadian Twitter in 2018 included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rapper Drake, and NBA player Tristan Thompson.
WATCH: Social media trends to watch for in 2018
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