March is said to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, but in social media at least, it came in like a tiger blood-infused Charlie Sheen and went out like a modestly talented 13-year-old girl.
Sheen’s public meltdown was one of the top trending topics of the month on Twitter, according to our friends at What The Trend. Sheen’s series of social media activities — joining Twitter, breaking the Guinness World Record for reaching 1 million users in the fastest time and then using his Twitter feed as advertising — consumed social media conversations early in the month, but then faded out.
Unlike Sheen, whose public falling out with his Two and a Half Men producer and the network were brewing for some time, the month’s other big curiosity, Rebecca Black, seemed to come out of nowhere. The likely impetus for the 13-year-old’s fame was Tosh.O’s blog, which cited Bl ack’s video “Friday” on March 11 with the headline “Songwriting Isn’t for Everyone.” Black’s video, now at close to 70 million views on YouTube, had just the right so-bad-it’s-good vibe to ensure its viral success.
While Sheen and Black dominated a lot of discussion in social media this month, it’s heartening to see that they didn’t eclipse the unthinkable tragedy in Japan, which continues to be a major topic of discussion.
For the full list, check out our chart below. Because this is a topical list, hashtag memes and games have been omitted from the chart.
You can check past Twitter trends in our Top Twitter Topics section.