The Most Discussed Topics on Facebook and Instagram in March [Infographic]

So what were the most discussed issues and topics across Facebook in March? Predictably, both St Patrick’s Day and Easter garnered a heap of mentions, but as usual, it’s the balance of the conversation and what issues are resonating amongst each demographic group that’s of most interest, and are as noted in Facebook’s March stats.

Given the obvious presence of those seasonal holidays, it’s actually somewhat more effective, as an audience research tool, to remove them from the stats, giving you a clearer view of the specific topics that resonated outside of those mentions.

As you can see, the NCAA March Madness tournament got a lot of attention, skewing more towards men, while International Women’s Day was the biggest topic of discussion amongst female users.

Conor McGregor was popular amongst younger male users, once again underlining the popularity of UFC amongst that group, while the new ‘Batman Vs Superman’ film also generated a lot of interest, despite poor reviews.

The 112^th birthday of Dr. Seuss was a conversation starter amongst female users, and interestingly, in terms of brand mentions, both Yahoo and Oreo also garnered significant interest from women.

On Instagram, the story was similar, though definitely not the same.

As you can see, ‘Batman Vs. Superman’ was also a hot topic of discussion on the image-sharing platform, but it’s interesting to see that UFC fighter Nate Diaz rated more prominently than Conor McGregor on Instagram, as opposed to Facebook. In their recent bout, Diaz defeated McGregor, but McGregor’s joking style and attitude has seen him gain a heap of fans on Facebook (3.37m vs. 391k for Diaz). The contrast in mentions between platforms could say something about the types of content users are looking to consume on each.

Facebook’s monthly Hot Topics reports are a great source of insight to get a better understanding of which topics are resonating across Facebook, and with which audiences specifically, which can be valuable for those looking to maximize their use of trending topics or get a better perspective on what issues are of most importance to their target market. Even if you conduct your own audience research (which you should), the Hot Topics reports can reveal nuances which you may not have thought of, which can then work to inform your outreach strategy.

And as normal, Facebook’s also produced regional reports, including:

The UK:

Canada

Australia

Facebook’s also provided a summary of the March Hot Topics in India here, though without the visual representation of the other reports.

Even if you think you’re across all the latest happenings, it’s worth looking over the monthly Hot Topics reports to assure your news sense and understand how each topic is moving throughout Facebook’s ever-expanding network.