Captain Sir Tom Moore memorial post leads Twitter’s end-of-year report
9 December 2021, 09:04
The tweet was the most retweeted and liked in the UK this year, Twitter says.
The memorial message for Captain Sir Tom Moore was the most retweeted and liked post on Twitter in the UK this year, the platform has revealed.
The tweet announcing the fundraiser’s death in February came after Sir Tom had raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including Gift Aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020.
Twitter compiled the stats by analysing which tweets received the most likes and retweets from other users based in the UK.
As part of the social media platform’s end-of-year report, looking back at the biggest posts on the site in 2021, Twitter revealed that Manchester United’s confirmation that Cristiano Ronaldo was returning to the club was the biggest sporting tweet of the year.
While the message from the official royal family account announcing the death of the Duke of Edinburgh was confirmed as the biggest Twitter moment of the year – the curated collection of tweets used to tell news stories on the site.
The clip of Piers Morgan walking off the Good Morning Britain set was the most tweeted TV moment, Twitter said, while #loveisland was revealed as the most tweeted hashtag of the year.
Twitter’s report showed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the most tweeted person of the year, ahead of K-pop band BTS, former US President Donald Trump, his successor Joe Biden and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Twitter UK’s head of planning, David Wilding, said: “2021 was a year for people to connect with the communities and conversations they cared about most, and that was reflected on Twitter.
“The sad passing of Sir Captain Tom Moore, someone who uplifted and inspired the nation during Britain’s first lockdown, was this year’s most retweeted and liked tweet within the UK.
“With the nation adjusting to the new normal, we saw huge excitement for the return of sports and TV shows that were missed in 2020, with Love Island being the most-talked-about show on Twitter and Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United being the top tweeted sports moment in the UK.
“We’re excited to see the array of conversations that people in the UK bring to Twitter in 2022.”
