But this is not another piece about the Chicken Nuggets Boy, so let's move on to the second-most-retweeted tweet of the year. It's by a guy who used to be president.
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
This tweet was posted in the wake of the white-nationalist rally in August in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a 20-year-old with a long history of sympathizing with Nazi views was arrested for allegedly plowing a car into a crowd of anti-racism demonstrators, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others.
Obama's tweet in response to Charlottesville was retweeted 1.7 million times and has 4.5 million likes. Not long after it was posted, it became the most-liked tweet on Twitter, ever.
In 2017, when the current president regularly steers an entire day's news cycle by tweeting a bunch of things before dawn, President Donald Trump is, unsurprisingly, at the top of the list of most-talked-about global elected leaders and U.S. politicians. The messages he's embraced - #MAGA, #TrumpTrain and #BoycottNFL, for instance - are some of the top activism hashtags of the year, according to Twitter.
But @RealDonaldTrump is absent from the 10 most-retweeted tweets of the year and Twitter's most-liked tweets of 2017. Meanwhile, his predecessor appears a total of five times across both lists.
Obama tweeted three of Twitter's 10 most retweeted tweets of the year, including two from the official @POTUS account before leaving office (Obama's Twitter history as president is now archived at @POTUS44):
It's been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) January 20, 2017
Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I'm asking you to believe—not in my ability to create change, but in yours.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) January 11, 2017
Other tweets in the top 10 included Ariana Grande's response after the massacre at her concert in Manchester, Britain, and a couple of tweets raising money to support those recovering from the hurricane in Houston.
One tweet on the most-retweeted list doesn't mention Trump, but is about him.
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
Trump and Obama use Twitter very differently: Obama, now under @BarackObama, has nearly 100 million followers and he doesn't tweet very much. His tweets about Charlottesville and John McCain's cancer diagnosis were both well-timed, supportive messages during major news events.
Trump, meanwhile, has 44 million followers and tweets all the time about everything. He's had an enormous impact on Twitter this year, but not because of any one tweet above all the rest.
People talk about Trump, obviously. Replying to his tweets has become performative for both his supporters and the #Resist crowd. However, it's hard for any one of his tweets to capture attention in the way Obama's most popular tweets have. If you're talking about a Trump tweet, chances are there will be another one to talk about in about five minutes.
In case you're curious, here are the full lists referred to in this piece.
Most-Retweeted Tweets of 2017
1:
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
2:
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
3:
With the current devastation in Houston, we are pledging $0.15 for every RT this gets! Please forward this along to help out those in need! pic.twitter.com/lodyOBE0eG
— Penn State IFC (@PennStateIFC) August 30, 2017
4:
broken.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.
5:
Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I'm asking you to believe—not in my ability to create change, but in yours.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) January 11, 2017
6:
— LINKIN PARK (@linkinpark) July 20, 2017
7:
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
8:
It's been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) January 20, 2017
9:
Leo and I are donating 6 lbs of dog food to Houston for every retweet this gets!!!! RT RT RT RT!! pic.twitter.com/bcTT905knP
— Sam (@SamMartin_6) August 31, 2017
10:
suicide hotline 1-800-273-8255
— seth joesph (@sethjoesph) August 28, 2017
1 person ends their life every 40 seconds
will u take the time to retweet this & possibly save one of them?
Most-Liked Tweets of 2017:
1:
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
2:
broken.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.
3.
John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I've ever known. Cancer doesn't know what it's up against. Give it hell, John.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2017
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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