Facebook's 2020 annual review

The year is coming to an end - time for Facebook to publish a big annual review! In 2020, however, it will be a little different than we sometimes know it.

Ultimately, one topic has dominated the past few months almost completely: the global corona pandemic. So it's no wonder that people in Germany discussed the term “virus” the most on Facebook. Topics such as “quarantine”, “vaccination”, “pandemic” and “disinfectants” were suddenly discussed - all words that were not necessarily in everyday use before but were still among the top 30 most discussed topics.

But especially on Facebook, the idea of ​​community gained new importance. The company organized itself even more strongly into groups, was able to bring concert atmosphere into its own four walls via live and also reminded others that everyone can do something to fight the virus: In the weeks after its launch, the “Stay Home” Sticker used more than 4 million times. But there were other impactful experiences too.

These are the topics that affected Germany the most on Facebook – apart from Covid19:

• The state election in Thuringia was the most discussed topic on Facebook apart from Corona. ( we reported )

• The right-wing terrorist attack in Hanau. On February 20, a man shot nine people in Hanau, Hesse, and later shot his mother and himself. Many people used Facebook to express their grief and to the relatives of Ferhat Unvar, Mercedes Kierpacz, Sedat Gürbüz, Gökhan Gültekin, Hamza Kurtović, Kaloyan Velkov , Vili Viorel Păun and Fatih Saraçoğlu. ( we reported )

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• The fire in the monkey house in Krefeld. The fire was started by sky lanterns on New Year's Eve and over 50 animals died. The sad event is the third most discussed topic on Facebook. ( we reported )

The biggest new groups of 2020

Despite all the challenges this year, the good news is: people have come together on Facebook to create positive things together! More than 25 million people in Germany are currently members of Facebook groups to exchange ideas and support each other.

Cooking, baking, crafting and gardening – many have spent the time at home doing DIY projects. This has resulted in various inspiring groups: Upcycling and DIY ideas, recipes and tips and tricks for country life are exchanged. And most recently: popular Christmas cookies and cooking ideas for the holidays.

• The largest newly founded group in the “home” sector is the “Ikea – decoration ideas around the house” with 120,000 members.

Video highlights on Facebook Watch

The following were particularly popular in the non-music area on Facebook Watch last year:

• Men's Worlds by Joko & Klaas in collaboration with Sophie Passmann and other prominent women achieved 7.3 million views
• We say thank you - a video in which ZDFheute thanks people in systemically relevant professions for their work in times of Corona received over 2.2 million views on Facebook

People around the world exchanged ideas about other different topics:

People came together on Facebook to commemorate :

• A tragic accident cost Kobe Bryant's (†41) life. On January 26th, a helicopter crashed near Los Angeles with the American basketball player and national hero and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna on board. Many people, especially in the USA and Mexico, commemorated the sports legend, making their icon the most commented on event on Facebook.
• Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (†87) died on September 18th. The feminist icon was an associate judge of the Supreme Court of the United States until her death. She was memorialized in more than 5 million posts on Facebook and Instagram, with many using the hashtag #restinpower. ( we reported )

Important social events were also discussed:

• In the three weeks following the death of George Floyd, conversations around the Black Lives Matter movement tripled, with an average of 7.5 million mentions of Black Lives Matter on Facebook every day. ( we reported )
• The topic was also present in Germany; “racism” was among the top 30 most discussed topics on Facebook.
• The announcement that future US President Joe Biden would nominate Kamala Harris vice president if he wins the election In just one day, this moment received more than 10 million posts. ( we reported )

The Facebook community came together to make the world a little bit better :

• More than 2.5 million people worldwide took part in the biggest Facebook fundraiser of the year – and our largest ever – raising $35 million to help those affected by the Australian wildfires.

• To date, people have raised more than $80 million for environmental causes to combat climate change, promote ocean cleanup, support animal welfare, and more.
• The largest fundraising project in Germany comes from the aid organization Space Eye , which collected 125,000 euros for the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos

People used Facebook to reach their community - to be close to each other despite the distance

• In many places around the world, normal church services were no longer possible at the beginning of the global pandemic. During Easter week around April 6th, Facebook counted the most group video chats ever . At the same time, this was also the most important week for live spiritual broadcasts ever.
• At the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, WhatsApp recorded a significant increase in video calls.

Source: Facebook Newsroom
Article image: Facebook