Friends and family used social media more often than ever before to wish each other a Merry Christmas yesterday. We reported in November that the term ‘Thanksgiving’ was mentioned in nearly 6% of all Internet conversations. How did Christmas conversations compare? We used Social Radar to find out.

Christmas buzz

The term ‘Christmas’ appeared in nearly 10% of all conversations online on December 25, 2011.

Christmas conversation topic cloud

Conversations around Christmas were 87% positive this year.

Mentions within Christmas conversations

The NBA was the most discussed topic within Christmas conversations one month ago after the NBA agreed to end the lockout and announced the season would start on Christmas Day. Over the weekend, family was the most often discussed topic within Christmas conversations, followed by Santa, presents and Church. The NBA did edge out decorations as a topic of conversation yesterday.

Happy holidays from the Infegy team!

With Christmas almost upon us Social Radar takes a look at what people online have been saying they like most (and least) about the festive season over the last 3o days.

Overall there has been 86% positivity towards Christmas in the last month, 11% negativity and 3% mixed sentiment.

Fortunately negative posts are few and far between but those that are mentioned include ‘ugly Christmas sweaters’ and the expense of the festive season along with posts including words such as ‘dread’, ‘miserable’ and ‘boring’.

Whatever your thoughts are about the festive season all of us at Infegy would like to wish you a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Look out for us in 2012 when we’ll be bringing you more insight into the wonderful world of social media.

Social media played a big role in Black Friday deals this year. Many big companies ran contests for gift cards or exclusive shopping sprees to help promote the biggest shopping day of the year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Did online buzz increase this year? We used Social Radar to find out.

Black Friday buzz

Black Friday was mentioned in nearly 2% of all Internet conversations on Friday.

Black Friday mentions more than doubled in 2011.

Black Friday conversation topic cloud

Conversations around Black Friday were 85% positive.

Content category distribution

Approximately 70% of Black Friday mentions came via Twitter; 24% came via blogs.

Is the increase in Black Friday buzz a good sign for the economy?

The word ‘Thanksgiving’ is currently appearing in an unprecedented 6% of all conversations online.

Thanksgiving buzz

Thanksgiving conversation topic cloud

Conversations around Thanksgiving are 90% positive online.

Hope you’re having a great holiday!

With Halloween weekend parties stretching a span of five days in many cities, we decided to check the buzz compared to last year.

Halloween buzz

Halloween is being mentioned 4X as often this year compared to last year.

Halloween conversation topics

Conversations around Halloween have been 88% positive throughout the extended weekend. The word ‘party’ appears in 22% of all Halloween conversations.

With so many adults and young professionals using the holiday as an excuse to party extensively, should Halloween be a national holiday?

So far in 2011 it seems like there’s a new scandal in the news every month. So far this year, Charlie Sheen faced a public meltdown, Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered an illegitimate love child, Anthony Weiner tweeted a picture of his wiener, and somewhere in between Rebecca Black released “Friday.”

We used Social Radar to measure buzz around each incident.

Sheen vs. Schwarzenegger vs. Weiner vs. Black buzz

Charlie Sheen generated the most buzz so far this year, followed by Weiner, Black and then Schwarzenegger.

Sadly, each of these scandals fell off our radar as a new scandal headline seemed to appear each month, making us forget about the last. While Weiner is on the tip of everyone’s tongue today, I’m sure another scandal will come along next month to capture the nation’s short attention span.

After blazing a trail through The Today Show, TMZ and CNN, media obsession Charlie Sheen has officially surpassed hype machine Justin Bieber in online buzz.

Sheen vs. Bieber buzz

Sheen was just set up with a “Verified” Twitter account @CharlieSheen. We are all anxiously awaiting his first tweet.

Most of the U.S. is being blasted with winter weather today, and snow seems to be the hottest topic on Twitter and other social networks.

We used Social Radar to run analysis.

SnOMG

Snow is being mentioned more than the Super Bowl, Justin Bieber, chicken and even puppies. Is there anything else on your mind besides the snowpocalypse?

Last night’s lunar eclipse, which coincided with the winter solstice for the first time since 1638, was a hot topic of conversation. The eclipse surged past NFL, WikiLeaks, Facebook, iPhone, Twitter and even Christmas to become one of the most discussed topics online. Eclipse was mentioned in nearly nearly 1.5% of ALL online conversations through yesterday and today.

The U.S. economy is in shambles. Global warming is melting the polar ice caps. General Motors re-entered Wall Street with a new IPO. The FDA warned of dangers in caffeinated alcohol drinks. FarmVille creator Zynga announced a new CityVille game. Google launched its first fashion endeavor Boutiques.com.

But all of these stories were overshadowed this week by Prince William’s announcement that he will marry longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.

What does this say about our country?