2016 in social media: Facebook, Instagram and more look back on the year

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Friday, December 9, 2016
(Marcio Jose Sanchez, File/AP Photo|Patrick Sison, File/AP Photo)
creativeContent-Marcio Jose Sanchez, File/AP Photo|Patrick Sison, File/AP Photo

As 2016 comes to a close, social media platforms are taking a look back at what defined the year.

From the presidential election to goofy viral videos to emojis, here's what was trendy in 2016.

Facebook

Facebook released a video looking back at everything from major global news to amusing viral videos like Chewbacca Mom. Her infectious giggle resulted in 163 million views and counting, the most viewed live video on Facebook all year.

The platform also listed its ten most mentioned topics from users around the world.

1. US Presidential Election

2. Brazilian Politics

3. Pokemon Go

4. Black Lives Matter

5. Rodrigo Duterte & Philippine Presidential Election

6. Olympics

7. Brexit

8. Super Bowl

9. David Bowie

10. Muhammad Ali

YouTube

YouTube's "Rewind" video, featuring celebrities and social media stars, has fun with all the "challenges" that surfaced during the year. They also created a playlist of the top trending global videos of 2016. Adele's enthusiastic Carpool Karaoke came out on top.

Twitter

Twitter is looking back on the year with a series of videos using the hashtag #ThisHappened. They released a video and looked back at some popular hashtags, including #MannequinChallenge and #Oscars.

Instagram

The photo-centric platform listed the 10 most used emojis on Instagram in 2016, most of which were some form of hearts or happy faces.