WordSmith › How Tweet It Is! Top Tweets of 2011 (So Far)
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Words of the Day
“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” – John Wooden, famous UCLA basketball coach
Twitter’s Top 10 Tweets of 2011
More than 100 million people around the world log in to Twitter every day to tweet about everything from their daily commutes to the meals they eat – but many have used the social networking tool this year for something much more important: share important events with people who could be thousands of miles away.
Every year, Twitter compiles a year-in-review to recap what the company believes were the most important tweets. They highlight the “best” according to the level of “impact, resonance, and relevance,” and take into account the big stories that first broke on Twitter — not by news agencies — but by people looking to share a photo, a thought, or a moment in time with people they may never meet.
Here is the bottom half of the Top 10 tweets of the year as ranked by Twitter:
10. “Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at the newark airport with a porthouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks. 
”
On Aug. 17, Twitter proved it could not only connect people, but also grant wishes. Peter Shankman tweeted: “Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at Newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks. .” When he landed at the airport, a tuxedo-clad Morton’s waiter was waiting for him with a steak, shrimp, a side of potatoes, bread, two napkins and silverware.
9. “Ercis central mosque behind the apartment building…”
After the earthquake in Van, Turkey, news anchor Okan Bayulgen sent relief and aftershock information via Twitter. One of his followers gave him an address where people might be trapped alive under the rubble. Bayulgen shared the address with a relief agency, and two hours later the agency rescued two people at the location.
8. “Subtitles are always so bad. England, America, Switzerland put one uv repeat Scrollingverfahren + = high quality!”
Julia Probst, a lip reader and soccer fan, reads the lips of soccer players and coaches during matches and tweets them, providing fans with a running dialogue that they would otherwise not be privy to. Her efforts extend beyond soccer to raise awareness for deaf and disabled people in politics and media. “It’s completely uncensored and you never get to see that unless you are on the playing field,” said Dorsey.
7. “Earthquake”
On March 11, when an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan many people used social media sites to make sure friends and family were safe and to publicize emergency response information. “You want to feel like you’re not alone in this massive, massive experience that is potentially very scary,” said Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. “To me it’s about being able to reach out instantly and know that others are with you and others are experiencing the same thing and others are out there supporting and that’s what you saw in Japan. You saw people reach out and say we’re in an earthquake right now and then all around the world you have all these replies coming in to these Japanese people saying we’re watching…it’s OK…are you there?”
6. “Here’s another Photo of the shuttle from my plane.”
In May, NASA launched the space shuttle Endeavour. Stefanie Gordon, aka @stefmara, took a photograph of the launch from a plane and tweeted it, capturing the launch from a new perspective.
Stay tuned for the Top 5 Tweets of 2011!
::Golden Mic Award::
Each week, WordSmith will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned … and step-up to the mic!
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