Top tweets of 2016: A round-up of the year's events in 140 characters or less
2016 has been a year of surprise, from shocking politics to international outrage, with 317 million users tweeting away in the third quarter of this year alone.
Here is a round-up of the most memorable tweets of 2016
Twitter has always been an instantaneous way of of celebrities, politicians and members of the public to air their thoughts in real time, but also a way for terrorists to recruit fighters.
The microblogging site has spread across the globe, with retweets and screenshots meaning it is notoriously difficult to erase those 140 characters once posted.
A wrongly worded tweet can get people fired or cause international diplomatic rows, but hashtags can show solidarity with a tragedy or a cause.
Here is a round-up of the most memorable tweets of the year, including memes, hashtags and general blunders from the abysmal fate of England at the Euros, to the death of Harambe which took the internet by storm.
The Rio Olympics spawned its own hashtag, #RioProblems
President-elect Donald Trump is infamous for spewing his thoughts unfiltered on the social media platform, at all hours.
During his campaign he was banned from tweeting from his account for a while, but was reinstated shortly after his win, with some equally hilarious and potentially worrying consequences.
And aside from his enraging foreign countries and igniting diplomatic rows, he also misspelt the word ‘unprecedented’ as 'unpresidented', which he later corrected.
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 6 November 2012
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage was undoubtedly over the moon when the UK voted to leave the EU, something he has been passionately campaigning for for years.
And his joy was evident when the result trickled in, as in the early hours of the morning he took to twitter at 5.41am to share his glee.
We've got our country back. Thanks to all of you. #IndependenceDay
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 24, 2016
The Rio Olympics spawned its own hashtag, #RioProblems, cataloging the myriad of issues Brazil encountered while getting the stadiums and venues up and running.
From shoddy accommodation, parts falling off venues, and even dead bodies in the water events, someone created a twitter handle called @RioProblems to catalogue the litany of disasters.
At this rate gold medals will be handed out just for surviving the olympics #rioproblems pic.twitter.com/oHyPsdzPLo
— Rio Problems (@RioProblems) April 22, 2016
This stadium sink isn't quite completed. #RioProblems pic.twitter.com/f6CWVQqRQB
— Eric Adelson (@eric_adelson) August 3, 2016
And possibly most notorious of all the problems was the case of the mysterious green pool.
One of the olympic diving pools - used by Tom Daley - turned an alarming shade of green, and was closed for a short time while Olympic officials sought the answer to the strange colour, meanwhile reassuring divers they were not in danger.
Ermmm...what happened?! pic.twitter.com/pdta7EpP2k
— Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) August 9, 2016
From one set of games to another, the third annual Invictus Games championed by Prince Harry got underway in Orlando.
But this time President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle indulged with some trash talking with the flame-haired Prince.
He gave as good as he got, even roping in his nan, otherwise known as Queen Elizabeth II.
Unfortunately for you @FLOTUS and @POTUS I wasn't alone when you sent me that video ������ - H.https://t.co/sjfSQvkzb6
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 29, 2016
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of dozens of world leaders who issued statements after the death of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro was announced.
But his turn of phrase spawned a series of hilarious tweets using the hashtag #ForAllHisFlaws. Here’s a selection of the best.
#ForAllHisFlaws he runs the most efficient network of gulags on the Korean Peninsula... pic.twitter.com/8Mbq8EBbnI
— A. Etchells-Butler (@Ash_EButler) 27 November 2016
#forallhisflaws #JeremyCorbyn only screwed a political party for a few years; #castro an entire nation for a lifetime...
— Christian Borrman (@chrisborrman) December 18, 2016
Twitter proved a moving and unique insight into the war in Syria, when a little girl named Bana Alabed, seven, twitter account was picked up by international journalists.
The youngster posted her experiences from east Aleppo, providing a glimpse into the brutal war which has raged for years.
Thankfully last week managed she escape the city as part of the convoys out of the ruins, and met with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Good afternoon from #Aleppo I'm reading to forget the war. pic.twitter.com/Uwsdn0lNGm
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) September 26, 2016
England's Euro dream went up in flames
Last year it was The Dress, a tweet which went viral as no one could quite agree which colour it was (it is white and gold, for the record).
This year we had painted or shiny legs? The internet was divided over an optical illusion which made a girl’s leg look very, very shiny, but were apparently drawn on.
are these legs shiny and oily or are they legs with white paint on them pic.twitter.com/7Z8e8F1JCZ
— kayden stephenson ⚡️ (@kingkayden) 26 October 2016
The entire world was outraged after the death of 17-year-old Western lowland male gorilla, Harambe, at a zoo in Cincinnati.
Keepers were forced to shoot the creature after then three-year-old Isiah Gregg managed to get inside the ape’s enclosure and was dragged around.
But his death sparked mass debate on zoo standards and the ethics of keeping primates in captivity.
Countless memes and hashtags were set up in the wake of the gorilla’s death including #Justice4Harambe, and 11,000 people voted for him in the recent US elections.
Not a day goes by that I still don't think of him. Sweet Harambe... #Justice4Harambe #InsideJob pic.twitter.com/cyj4Dnzf3X
— Andrew McGovern (@McGoblin501) 18 October 2016
As the 2016 Euros kicked off in June, there was hope for England’s chances.
That hope went up in flames as we were embarrassingly and very unceremoniously booted out of the competition by none other than Iceland, which has a population of just 323,000.
Notwithstanding the country shares its name with a well known supermarket, provding perfect fodder for jokes, but the overall tweets encompassing the collective shame of the nation were rife.
Just to put this in perspective:
— Luke Kerr-Dineen (@LukeKerrDineen) June 27, 2016
England's manager makes $4.6 mil a year. Iceland's is a part-time dentist.
China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act
When a serious competition turns to the internet for help, there can only be one outcome. And so Boaty McBoatface was born.
The public was asked to suggest a named for the UK’s new £200m polar research vessel, and among entries was RRS Henry Worsley, but topping the list by a long way was the RRS Boaty McBoatface with 124,109 votes.
The second most popular choice, Poppy-Mai got just 34,371. Despite the clear winner, NERC plumped for the third choice, Sir David Attenborough.
But the name, and the idea, lived on with a dedicated twitter account set up in the name and numerous Something McSomethingface popping up.
RT if you think Boaty McBoatface was the best thing to happen in 2016
— Boaty McBoatface (@BoatyMcBoatface) December 3, 2016
The 1990s craze of Pokémon was resurrected in the form of augmented reality game Pokémon Go, which let players search and capture the critters in ‘real life’.
It led to a spate of accidents from people distracted by their phones, alleged muggings, trespassings and breaking and entry.
But in war-torn Syria, heartbreaking photos emerged of children trying to utilise the trend to get help.
Syrian children holding Pokemon photos in hopes the world will find them and save them pic.twitter.com/pjnSMwSdTn
— Teymour (@Teymour_Ashkan) July 21, 2016
The UK was battered by its first named storm of the winter season, Angus
The Brussels terror attack saw three suicide bombers detonate two devices at Brussels airport and one at Maalbeek metro station, killing 33 people.
In the wake of the attack the hashtag #JeSuisBruxelles was trending, mimicking similar terror events such as the Charlie Hebdo massacre, where JeSuisCharlie signs were held up by mourners in solidarity.
#JeSuisNice #JesuisIstanbul #JeSuisBruxelles #JeSuisBaghdad #JeSuisParis ........
— KissTheCook (@KisssTheCook) July 15, 2016
And how many more times?
The UK was battered by its first named storm of the winter season, Angus, in November, which caused widespread flooding and damage, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.
Power lines were downed, trees uprooted, and gales of up to 106 mph were recorded.
Streets turned into rivers with countless acts stranded, and emergency services forced to rescue dozens of stranded commuters leaving at least one man dead.
Driveway and garden in Millbrook destroyed bh flooding. #stormangus pic.twitter.com/GggR4s5It7
— Andy Chadwick (@ac_revive) November 23, 2016