#covid19, #GE2020 Singapore’s most popular hashtags on Twitter in 2020

Microblogging site Twitter in its annual trends report revealed that #covid19 and #GE2020 were the top hashtags of the year in Singapore.

Photo courtesy: Pixabay
Because of social distancing and the COVID-19 lockdown, many turned to the virtual space for Singapore's General Election 2020. Photo: Connected to India

Singapore mirrored the global trend which also saw the pandemic taking the top spot among the most tweeted hashtags across the world, adding that the hashtag and variations of it were used in 400 million tweets globally.

"Unsurprisingly, #covid19 is Singapore's top hashtag as many turned to Twitter for timely updates on developments and to share their thoughts on the situation," it said in its release.

The second top hashtag in the city-state was #GE2020, with the report noting that it was also because of social distancing and the COVID-19 lockdown that many turned to the virtual space for Singapore's General Election 2020.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan took the 10th and 9th spots respectively in the top 10 tweeted about accounts in Singapore.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan took the 10th and 9th spots respectively in the top 10 tweeted about accounts in Singapore. Photo courtesy: PAP

It said the hotly-contested July election saw more debates and discussions taking place on social media than in previous years. The third, fourth and fifth spots went to hashtags related to video games, the report revealed.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Workers' Party MP Raeesah Khan took the 10th and 9th spots respectively in the top 10 tweeted about accounts in Singapore.

The top spot went to Yeo Tze Hern, better known as Yeolo, who is known for videos and memes parodying events and often current affairs topics.

In the United States, #COVID19, #BlackLivesMatter and #StayHome were the first, second and third most Tweeted hashtags of 2020. 

Over 700 million Tweets were sent in 2020 about elections around the world and Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi and Kamala Harris were among the most Tweeted-about global figures.
Over 700 million Tweets were sent in 2020 about elections around the world and Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi and Kamala Harris were among the most Tweeted-about global figures. Photo courtesy: Twitter

In the UAE, the hashtags that dominated the year was #coronavirus, with its Arabic translation coming second. #youareresponsible also made two appearances, in Arabic at third and English at fifth. Rounding out the top hashtags were #stayathome at fourth and #quarantine at sixth.

In the United Kingdom, hashtags linked to the pandemic, lockdown and protecting the NHS occupied seven places in the top 10 of the year. The Black Lives Matter movement and the death of George Floyd took up two of the remaining three most popular UK hashtags, with #loveisland – used for discussion around the ITV dating show – completing the top 10.

Over 700 million Tweets were sent in 2020 about elections around the world and Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi and Kamala Harris were among the most Tweeted-about global figures.

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