Ellen DeGeneres nabs most retweeted tweet of the year

By Alison Maxwell

USA Today (TNS)

It was the selfie seen round the world, and now it’s officially the most retweeted tweet of the year, according to exclusive data released by Twitter on Tuesday.

“If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars,” read Ellen DeGeneres’ tweet.

It was accompanied by a selfie taken by Bradley Cooper and including a who’s who of A-listers at the Academy Awards: Meryl Streep, DeGeneres, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Lupita N’yongo.

The selfie had 3.3 million retweets and 2 million favourites, and it was retweeted in 151 different countries. The second-most-retweeted tweet of the year was from Justin Bieber: “you are all worthy no matter what anyone says >> be strong god is with us all> my beliebers changed my life> i will forever be grateful.”

DeGeneres’ selfie also was the most-tweeted-about entertainment moment in the US this year, with 254,644 tweets per minute.

“When Ellen took the selfie, she talked directly to the viewing audience, so sharing the Tweet made them feel like part of the show,” says Elaine Filadelfo, data and trends manager at Twitter. “And of course, it featured many of the most popular celebrities; in fact, this is the third year in a row that the most retweeted tweet of the year included a photo.”

Most tweeted-about US entertainment moments:

1.254,644 Tweets per minute: Ellen’s famous selfie during the Oscars

2.229,533 Tweets per minute: End of halftime show featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Super Bowl

3.171,593 Tweets per minute: Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar performance during the Grammys

4.158,159 Tweets per minute: Ellen delivers pizza to the audience during Oscars

5.152, 688 Tweets per minute: Lorde wins best pop solo performance at the Grammys

6.146,083 Tweets per minute: Lorde performs at Grammys

7.138,792 Tweets per minute: MIley Cyrus’ win for “Video of the Year” during the VMAS

8.135,330 Tweets per minute Gravity wins its 6th Oscar- for film editing

9.97,153 Tweets per minute: Beyonce performs and receives Vanguard Award alongside Jay Z at VMAs

10.89,029 Tweets per minute: Lorde wins Best Rock Video at VMAs