Trends 2009: Name Of The Meme On Facebook

With Facebook becoming a way of life for most internet users, it’s not uncommon to be bombarded with one update after the other on whatever is the hottest topic or event of the moment.

Taken as a whole, these status updates provide an insight into the themes, ideas and issues that unite people around the world. Facebook undertook a study on the most popular ‘memes’ or themes of U.S. status updates in 2009 and shared the top results.

Facebook applications are hugely popular among users and Farmville led the list with 72 million active monthly users. Farm Town also ranked high along with several discussions involving the word ‘farm’.

Frustration levels seem to have reached an all-time high as ‘FML’ became the hottest acronym of 2009. While ‘M’ and ‘L’ stand for ‘My Life’, ‘F’ is open to interpretation. Predictably, usage peaked during exam finals and on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Swine Flu and celebrity deaths were among the hottest current events, with Michael Jackson generating a phenomenal burst of updates on his death and memorial. Patrick Swayze’s death was also almost as large.

Family related terms and movie names followed, indicating that daily activities and people also featured in a big way in most updates. ‘Kids’ and ‘New Moon’ were the stars in their respective categories. The Steelers and the Yankees sparked off a frenzy of sports-related updates during the Super Bowl and the World Series.

President Barack Obama’s stand has ensured that health care reform as a theme went up ten times in 2009, with pro-reform users posting supportive updates in early September. Facebook and its shortened form ‘FB’, as well as Twitter, round off the top ten memes of 2009.