The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. Now more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Earth Day online.

Earth Day mentions

Earth Day 2012 chatter eclipsed 2011 chatter by 4%, with more than 2.3 million mentions online April 22, 2012.

Earth Day sentiment

Earth Day conversations have been an average of 87% positive throughout the year. spiking to 91% positive on April 22, 2012.

Earth Day content distribution

Approximately 70% of Earth Day mentions came via Twitter, and 23% via blogs.

Pledge your act of green online to share how you will help save the planet.

Trayvon Martin was shot to death last month by a neighborhood-watch captain in Florida. His death has raised widespread questions about Florida’s laws and raised concerns that his shooting was possibly racially motivated. The shooting has also led to calls for the arrest of the George Zimmerman, the neighborhood-watch captain in Sanford, Fla., who shot Martin.

President Obama on Friday called for a full investigation into the shooting of the unarmed African-American teenager, saying the U.S. needs to do some “soul searching” to determine what led to his death.

Three objects emerged as symbols of the tragedy: Skittles, iced tea, and a hoodie. Trayvon covered his head with his hoodie to conceal himself from his pursuer, and — unarmed — was only carrying a single bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Trayvon Martin mentions online

Trayvon has been mentioned more than 12 million times online this week.

Trayvon Martin conversation topic cloud

The outrage is evident: every topic of conversation around the 17-year old’s murder is negative.

Will Trayvon’s tragic death lead to improved civil rights in America? President Obama said, ”My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

Today is World Water Day, an effort to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The campaign sheds light on water consumption and recommends actions to save prescious water resources and ensure food for all.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

World Water Day buzz

World Water Day mentions tripled today.

Content distribution

Approximately 63% of World Water Day mentions came from Twitter; 29% via blogs.

783 million people are still waiting for safe drinking water. Are you using your social media channels to spread the word and help make the world a better place?

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. Some say the video doesn’t tell the whole story. Regardless, the video is a “27 minute experiment” seeking to exploit the power of spreading viral messages across the world with the social media tools available today. The YouTube video has been viewed more than 38 million times in a few days. The viral campaign has been shared by millions of people via Facebook and Twitter, with celebrities like Justin Bieber and Diddy jumping on the bandwagon.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Kony mentions

Kony buzz spiked dramatically this week. Kony was mentioned in 1 out of every 100 conversations online March 7.

Kony sentiment

Nearly every major topic of conversation around Kony has been negative, with phrases like “Stop Kony” trending on social media sites.

Content breakdown

Approximately 46% of Kony mentions came via blogs, 50% via Twitter. Kony was mentioned more than 24 million times on Wednesday.

Pope Benedict XVI is bringing a segment of his daily papal message to Twitter, beginning Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22. According to a Vatican Radio blog post, some Catholics view Lent as a time to volunteer, give something up or study the Bible, while others have abandoned the season.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Lent mentions

Even with more social media channels than ever and overall social media usage exploding, both ‘Lent’ and ‘Ash Wednesday’ mentions have declined online each year since 2008.

Content distribution

Since 2008, 47% of Lent mentions came via blogs, and 40% via Twitter.

Can The Pope’s Twitter campaign help save Lent?

The Costa Concordia cruise ship death toll continues to rise and the captain remains on house arrest and may face charges of manslaughter. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Costa Concordia conversation topics

Most conversations topics around the Costa Concordia incident are negative. The ship’s captain, Schettino, appears in 16% of conversations and is 60% negative currently.

Cruise sentiment

Conversations around the term ‘cruise,’ which are typically nearly 90% positive, are currently more than 50% negative.

Will the incident hinder the growing cruise industry? Will you reconsider taking a cruise as a result?

Police began showing up by the hundreds just after midnight at Zuccotti Park last night, surrounded the encampment of tents and tarps and booths that the Occupy Wall Street protesters had built, and began evacuating protesters.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Occupy Wall Street buzz

Occupy Wall Street buzz skyrocketed to an all-time high overnight.

Occupy Wall Street conversation topic cloud

Conversations around the Occupy Wall Street are currently 49% negative. Several topics reached Twitter’s worldwide list of trending topics, providing real-time updates of the events via social media.

A judge ruled against Occupy Wall Street protesters, upholding a move by New York City and the landlord of the privately owned plaza to clear tents from Zuccotti Park and prevent protesters from bringing equipment back in.

Will this mark the end of the Occupy Wall Street protests?

The boxing world was quick to react upon hearing news of the death of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, who passed away at age 67 Monday night after a brief bout with liver cancer.

Then Tuesday, hip-hop artist Heavy D died at age 44 after collapsing outside his condo in Beverly Hills. The music community called Heavy D “the only rapper everybody always loved.”

In today’s world of social media, fans have more outlets than ever before to express condolences to those who have passed.

Heavy D and Joe Frazier mentions

Although neither had been in the news recently, both received a huge amount of condolences online this week.

Content distribution by category

More fans paid respects to Heavy D via Twitter, while Joe Frazier received more image and blog posts.

Hours after news broke about the passing of former Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs, microblogging social network Twitter was consumed with reactions from fans and people who appreciated what Jobs did for the world.

The column of trending topics is dominated with Jobs-related subjects. Hashtags like #iSad, #RIPstevejobs and #ThankyouSteve are all actively being attached to messages.

We used Social Radar to analyze and measure conversations around Steve Jobs online.

Steve Jobs chatter

Nearly 4% of all Internet conversations are currently mentioning Steve Jobs.

Content distribution

Approximately 94% of all Steve Jobs mentions over the last two days came via Twitter.

Steve Jobs’ passion touched the lives of many people he never met. A true inspiration. Rest in peace.

Dr. Conrad Murray — the physician who was Michael Jackson’s personal physician when he died June 25, 2009, with a lethal amount of the anesthetic in his system — is now on trial for Jackson’s death. Today in court, the jury heard the security guard’s 911 call, the most damning yet against the 58-year-old physician.

How does the public feel about the trial? Is Dr. Murray guilty? We used Social Radar to gauge public sentiment around the trial.

Conrad Murray buzz

Chatter around Dr. Murray spiked to its highest point yesterday.

Conrad Murray Sentiment

Conversations around Dr. Murray have been an average of 63% negative, spiking to their highest point 80% negative today.

Does the American public think Dr. Murray is guilty?