2016 has been an eventful year on social media. Right from #Notebandi to #Rio2016 as well as #DelhiPollution and #SurgicalStrikes, people discussed and hotly debated on mini blogging site Twitter and spoke their mind on Facebook. Youtube videos garnered quite a lot of views.

Demonetisation

PM Narendra Modi’s decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8 has been adjudged as the most influential moment of the year by Twitter, in an official statement. Approximately 6.5 lakh tweets were recorded within 24 hours of the announcement. Other popular hashtags related to the event were #Demonetisation, #Notebandi, #Cashless, etc.

#YearOnTwitter Can you guess the list of the top 10 Twitter Hashtag Trends in #India for 2016? It was a great year for sports! #ThisHappened pic.twitter.com/mZg1pjAA47

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) December 6, 2016

Women athletes at Rio 2016

Discussions surrounding the performance of PV Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar and Sakshi Malik in Rio 2016 in August, is ranked second by Twitter. Twitter recorded millions of tweets  for #Rio2016 from 5-21 August.

#SurgicalStrikes

In September, days after the Uri attack, the Indian army carried out surgical strikes against terror launch pads across LoC in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. In an official statement, Twitter said, “debates and discussions ensued on Twitter after the Indian army carried out a surgical strike against Pakistan… The nation stood divided in favour of or against this choice of action that led to a significant number of casualties of Indian soldiers.”


JNU

In 2016, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) remained the topic of debate on Twitter. The #JNU hashtag took Twitter by storm as people debated over serious issues such as freedom of speech.

#YearOnTwitter Surprise! We have a NEW #1 on our list of Most-Followed #India accounts in 2016! Hint: he's not a movie star. #ThisHappened pic.twitter.com/Bsld8AodF1

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) December 8, 2016