Blog / February 2016

What Twitterers Are Giving up for Lent (2016 Edition)

The top 100 things that people on Twitter are giving up for Lent in 2016.

This year, more people are giving up chocolate than anything else; last year’s favorite, school, dropped four places to #5.

Several were topical: TOPS came in at #40, referring to Louisiana’s discontinuation of the college scholarship program of that name. Presidential candidate Donald Trump came in at #82, while “running for president” came in at #84, referring to the withdrawal of candidates Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina from the race after disappointing results in New Hampshire. “Politics” came in at #91.

Big gainers this year are “indifference,” at #51, and “being petty” at #59. The former follows Pope Francis’s Lent message from last year, which a few media outlets picked up this year.

The total number of tweets, around 200,000 (with the 60,000 non-retweets specifically mentioning giving up something serving as the basis for this analysis), dropped in half from last year’s total. I don’t know whether people are using Twitter less or if Twitter is throttling the data available in their API. Either way, much less data is available this year than last.

RankWordCountChange from last year’s rank
1.Chocolate2,235+1
2.Social networking2,115+3
3.Alcohol1,904+1
4.Twitter1,903-1
5.School1,565-4
6.Swearing1,4130
7.Soda1,1120
8.Sweets1,0030
9.Coffee881+1
10.Fast food870-1
11.Meat793+3
12.Sugar792+18
13.Lent6540
14.Facebook624+7
15.You607-3
16.Bread603+3
17.Pizza541+1
18.Sex489-2
19.College459-8
20.Chips4530
21.Junk food439-4
22.Homework410-7
23.Beer369+3
24.Boys367-2
25.F***boys344+3
26.Candy313-3
27.Work301+2
28.Starbucks291-1
29.Life283+4
30.Religion278-5
31.Ice cream267+1
32.Netflix255-8
33.Instagram243-2
34.Snapchat239+6
35.Smoking2250
36.Cheese221+13
37.Wine220-1
38.Cookies2180
39.Marijuana193+3
40.TOPS179 
41.Rice177+3
42.Food170+6
43.Stuff161+7
44.French fries160+12
45.Makeup157+21
46.Catholicism156+1
46.Shopping156-3
47.Carbs150+5
48.Fried food137+11
48.People137+9
49.Caffeine133+18
50.Red meat127+10
50.Feelings127-9
51.Desserts121+4
51.Indifference121+124
51.My phone121-6
52.McDonald's118-1
53.Hope114+10
53.Negativity114+15
54.Masturbation110+7
55.Procrastination109+9
56.Complaining108+9
57.Booze107+10
58.Virginity104-12
59.Sobriety103+5
59.Being petty103+104
60.Coke102-2
61.Liquor97+22
61.Hot Cheetos97+21
61.Online shopping97+29
61.Fizzy drinks97+12
62.Breathing96+15
63.Caring91+29
64.Pasta90+29
64.Dairy90+38
65.Takeout89+3
66.Diet coke86+9
67.Chick Fil A84+4
68.Chipotle82-29
68.Sleep82+11
69.Cake79+1
69.Eating out790
70.Pancakes78+6
70.Porn78+4
71.Men77+16
72.Stress75+37
73.Sarcasm71+15
74.Taco Bell70+12
74.Him70+24
75.Gluten68+25
75.Peanut butter68+5
76.Juice67+19
77.My attitude66+64
77.Cruelty66 
77.Tea66+7
78.New Year's resolutions64+20
79.Christianity63+29
80.Church62+21
81.Sixth form61+88
82.TV60+24
82.Donald Trump60 
83.Pork58+42
83.A levels58+14
84.Running for president57 
84.Exercise57+16
85.Lying55+41
86.Everything52+24
86.Being mean52+11
86.Sweet tea52+5
87.Studying51+24
88.Chicken50+16
89.Naps49+5
89.Dunkin Donuts49-4
89.Potatoes49+28
89.God49+29
90.My job48+32
91.Nothing46+5
91.Politics46+100
92.Tinder44+41
93.Laziness42+35
94.Being single41+20
94.Being nice41+27
94.Hoes41+31
95.Girls40+10
95.Benefits40 
96.Math39+10
96.Selfies39-34
96.Losing39+35
97.Bacon38+18
97.My boyfriend38+4
97.Dieting38+53
97.Dating38+60
98.Elevators37+32
98.Classes37-20
98.Buying makeup37+76
98.Going to school37+21
98.Donuts37+8
98.Plastic37+85
99.Jesus36+32
99.Boba36+28
99.Her36+19
99.Football36+83
99.Trying36+54
99.Snacking36+11
99.My feelings36+45
100.Tacos35+65
100.Lint35+24
100.Guys35+29

Social Media

Snapchat passes Instagram for the first time this year. WhatsApp continues to rank surprisingly low given its popularity.

Fast Food

Chipotle’s well-publicized food-safety woes reversed its trajectory this year.

Chipotle falls below McDonald's after passing them last year.

Snack Food

Hot Cheetos show no signs of slowing down.

Hot Cheetos continues to outpace other snack foods.

Boba

Boba, or bubble tea, is the new beverage of choice, apparently.

Boba has been steadily increasing compared to regular tea.

Categories

RankCategoryNumber of Tweets
1.food15,459
2.technology5,021
3.habits4,299
4.smoking/drugs/alcohol3,513
5.school/work3,235
6.relationship1,974
7.irony1,812
8.health/hygiene908
9.sex902
10.religion738
11.generic577
12.entertainment462
13.politics374
14.relationships344
15.shopping341
16.money147
17.sports125
18.celebrity78
19.possessions70
20.weather57
21.clothes49

Media Coverage

The Lent Tracker received some media attention this year:

  1. Naples Daily News
  2. Times Union
  3. Independent
  4. Spokesman-Review
  5. Kansas City Star
  6. Fox 8 Cleveland
  7. Irish Central
  8. Newstalk
  9. Knoxville News Sentinel
  10. Des Moines Register

Posted in Lent

Track in Real Time What People Are Giving Up for Lent in 2016

See the top 100 things people are giving up in 2016 for Lent on Twitter, continually updated until February 13, 2016. You can also use the Historical Lent Tracker to see trends since 2009, though 2016 is still in flux, so I wouldn’t draw any conclusions about 2016 yet.

As I write this post, with about 2,000 tweets analyzed, perennial favorites “chocolate,” “alcohol,” and “social networking” lead the list. Currently, “cruelty” is #6, reflecting a campaign by PETA UK asking Christians to go vegan for Lent. With the New Hampshire primaries on Tuesday and several U.S. presidential candidates likely to withdraw from the race, I’m expecting jokes about how the candidates are giving up their presidential aspirations for Lent.

Look for the usual post-mortem on February 13, 2016.

Posted in Lent, Twitter