#Crushedtrophies and #basketballplayoffs: Last week on Twitter
(CBS/What's Trending) - Topping the Twitter trending topics chart this week was the final game of Spain's Copa del Rey soccer competition along with its comic aftermath. Fan favorites Real Madrid and Barcelona met up on April 20. Real Madrid emerged victorious with a 1-0 win.
As Real Madrid savored their first Copa del Rey win since 1993, soccer fans at first cheered and then groaned as Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, riding on a double-decker bus through the streets of Madrid in a city celebration, dropped the Cup trophy, and it was crushed under the bus wheels. Don't worry: It has since been replaced.
Last weekend, many were Tweeting about the 2011 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, the annual three-day rock festival taking place in Indio, California. In the past, online conversation surrounding a music concert would be limited to those few individuals who took a break from the performances to share their experience using their smart phones. But this year, YouTube's live broadcast featured eight hours of music each day from three separate channels providing online viewers with three days worth of recorded musical performances. Of the nearly 200 bands performing during the festival, those that prompted the most vibrant trends on Twitter included Mumford & Sons, The Strokes, Kings of Leon, Yelle, Gogol Bordello and Freelance Whales.
Although the quality of the Wrigley-sponsored YouTube broadcast varied over the weekend, the continuing evolution of simulcast concerts is an exciting development for music lovers who lack the time, flexible schedule or resources that would allow them to attend an event like Coachella. Their YouTube channel received over 4 million views in its first week and now the bands have preserved and freely available live concert footage which will undoubtedly draw in more fans and boost the social media profile on the Coachella concert experience.
For an in-depth discussion on the impact of YouTube's Coachella broadcast upon the music industry, see Daniel Terdiman (CNet) excellent analysis "How YouTube's Coachella Webcast changed the world." Expect more YouTube live events -- from the Royal Wedding to Bonnaroo Festival in June--to generate trending topics that chart high on Twitter.
A curiosity this week among the top trending topics occurred in the Belieber universe, populated by fans of teen icon Justin Bieber. While Bieber returned to his familiar #1 spot in last week's Top 10 Trending Topics, this week, his popularity was exceeded by Australian teenager Jamie Laou (or @iJever as he is known on Twitter). Laou bares a resemblance to Bieber and has his own YouTube channel where he talks about Bieber and his fans along with his own life.
Even newcomers to Twitter quickly see that Trending Topics are not a measure of popularity but are an indication of "hot topics". For every fan of iJever, there are a dozen diehard Beliebers denouncing his place at the fringe of their fan community. But, it's a sure sign of Justin Bieber's reach that even his lookalikes generate controversy.
Next week on Twitter, expect to see some build-up to the William & Kate's Wedding as well as continued interest in the NBA Playoffs as the first round wraps up, and the conference semifinals bracket is finalized.
Working as a research and teaching fellow or adjunct instructor at universities in California, New Jersey and New York, Liz lived a content and predictable life in academia until she came across Twitter in April 2008. A qualitative sociologist, Liz previously studied conflict, community-building & leadership in online discussion groups and religious organizations before turning her focus to social networks and social media. When Liz isn't analyzing Twitter trending topic patterns for What the Trend, she bounces between small town life in New Jersey and tech, media & educational meetups in New York City. Her personal mantra is "Always be reading!"
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