What Were The Most Popular Trending Topics In 2011? [INFOGRAPHIC]

What do the Egyptian protests, Charlie Sheen and the rapture have in common? They were hugely popular trending topics on Twitter, of course!

This infographic from Women’s Health Base takes a look at the most popular trending topics and events that happened on Twitter this past year, giving you insight into what 100 million Twitter users found noteworthy in 2011.

The big, tubby blue bird in the infographic might not be the cutest representation of the Twitter bird we’ve seen, but in his defense, he has to house a lot of information – 12 months worth of trends.

And Twitter has had quite the year. Starting in January with the #Egypt protests and ending in December with #twitterstories, the infographic details more than a dozen trends that surfaced thanks to Twitter’s algorithm which favors new topics being shared by a significant group of users.

Pop culture made an appearance among the most popular topics on Twitter this year, with Charlie Sheen’s #winning hashtag making the rounds in March, and the Royal Wedding taking center stage in April.

And Twitter was the source of breaking political news, too. Osama Bin Laden was killed in May, riots broke out in England in August and Occupy Wall Street began in September, all of which became trending topics on Twitter.

You’ll want to click to enlarge this infographic to read the year’s trending topics:

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