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International Women’s Day is Facebook’s most-discussed topic in 2017

Hillary K. Grigonis
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Facebook
Facebook may be social media, but in 2017, the network was also a place for support. On Tuesday, December 5, Facebook released its annual year in review report where human rights, tragedies, and natural disasters were among the most popular topics on the social network over the last year. Unlike previous years that generated a top 10 list of topics, Facebook divided the 2017 report into three categories for posts, Crisis Response, and events.

The moments over the last year that generated the most Facebook discussion was topped off by International Women’s Day. For Facebook users, this day generated the most discussion in 2017.

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Human rights were also the biggest Facebook Event in 2017 with the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. The event brought more than 50,000 people together on January 21, according to Facebook.

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While human rights take two of the nine top post types of the year, the topic isn’t unique to Facebook. On Wednesday, December 6, Time Magazine named “The Silence Breakers” using #metoo to speak out against sexual harassment as its 2017 Person of the Year. The Women’s March also made Twitter’s top 10 list of the most used hashtags.

Natural disasters and tragedies were also among Facebook’s most discussed topics of 2017. The Las Vegas shooting drove the most users to offer help using the platform’s Crisis Response tools. Facebook said the event had more than 3,300 people offering to help with those tools. The earthquake in Mexico was the disaster driving the highest number of interactions within all of the Crisis Response tools, with millions marking themselves safe, donating or offering help.

Facebook was also a place for raising funds in the wake of these disasters. Hurricane Harvey was the largest fundraiser for a single cause on Facebook in 2017, raising more than $20 million in the wake of the disaster. The platform’s most-viewed live broadcast was also a fundraiser — the One Love Manchester, a benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester, England terror attack, raised more than $450,000. The broadcast was both the biggest live video and the most-viewed video with views topping 80 million.

Facebook made several updates to the platform’s Crisis Disaster tools over 2017, making the Safety Check a permanent feature rather than one turned on only in the wake of a disaster. Disaster Maps launched over the summer to help organizations like the Red Cross and UNICEF identify what is needed and where. Facebook also dropped its five percent cut of any donations made on Facebook, giving 100 percent to the organization.

Facebook wasn’t all discussion on pressing topics and disasters in 2017 — Super Bowl LI also made the list as one of the most-discussed events on the platform, including 262 million views spread out across multiple related videos. The total solar eclipse created the most separate local events on the platform for 2017, with 20,000 plus events coming from over 80 countries.

As with previous years, Facebook will also be creating a year in review for personal events, too. Users can find a video of their top posts from 2017 by following prompts from their Newsfeed or visiting facebook.com/yearinreview.

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Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary K. Grigonis
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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