South by Southwest: Who had the most clout in 2010? Check out these lists.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Who had the most clout in 2010? Check out these lists.

In case you were all taken up with the holidays, here is the app Klout's set of influencers for last year. There is a bit of sad irony in this story. One of today's headlines is that Steve Jobs, head of Apple is taking a leave of absence for health reasons. . . again. Not good news.

Amplify’d from klout.com

Most Influential Topics of 2010

December 29th, 2010 by Megan Berry

2010 was a landmark year for Twitter, as it moved away from being a novelty and became a mainstream tool for businesses and consumers alike. We analyzed the content produced over the past year to determine the most influential topics. At Klout, we believe that trends aren’t simply a factor of volume. These topics are not only shared widely, but shared by the top influencers on Twitter. These word clouds reflect the influence of these topics in shaping the year 2010 on Twitter.

These lists reflect the influential topics, but not sentiment. For some brands, such as BP and Toyota, becoming an influential topic reflects the controversy they encountered this year.

For a chance to dig in further, here are the topics ordered into top 10 lists:

Overall Topics: These topics reflect the pulse of 2010. While social media was a popular topic throughout 2010, others in the top 10 made it there from activity concentrated in one or two months. Discussion about Iran reached a peak in February, when it announced it would begin enriching uranium. Talk about Healthcare Reform peaked in March when the Health Care Reform Bill passed in the house and, of course, the World Cup peaked in June and July.

People: So who are the most influential people of 2010? Unsurprisingly, Barack Obama tops the list,

Companies: Coca Cola tops the list, peaking in July as they had a big campaign around the end of the World Cup.

Tech Companies: Twitter and Facebook beat out giants

TV Shows: The fact that Lost and American Idol top this list is no surprise

Music: Justin Bieber is a genuine Twitter phenomenon and dominates this list.

Products: The iPhone tops this list as the most influential product of 2010. The iPad comes in second, reflecting Apple’s dominance of this list.

Sports: The fervor around the World Cup made soccer the most influential sport of 2010.

Sports Teams: The Lakers won the championship this year so it’s no surprise they top this list. The Yankees fervent fan base makes them a consistently influential topic and, of course, the San Francisco Giants made it on the list when they won the World Series.

Cities: The most influential cities of 2010 reflect the top cities in the world – with London, New York City, and Los Angeles topping the list. Austin, Texas made it on the list due to a high volume of influential tweets surrounding SXSW in March.