Facebook's favourites for 2015

Highlights include

• The US presidential election was the most talked-about topic globally, with nearly a year to go to Election Day. The November 13 attacks in Paris, the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, the Nepal earthquakes and the Greek debt crisis followed. The full list can be seen here: yearinreview.fb.com

• Ed Sheeran topped the list of most talked-about entertainers, followed by Taylor Swift at #2, Kanye West at #3, Nicky Jam at #4, and Wiz Khalifa rounding out the top 5.
• Game of Thrones ruled the small screen as the most talked-about TV show, while Star Wars: The Force Awakens led the list of most talked-about movies.
• Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao were the most talked-about athletes of the year following their highly watched fight in May.

• Clash of Kings, a new RTS RPG multiplayer war game developed by ELEX, was Facebook's Game of the Year, as it achieved chart-topping success on both web and mobile with more than 70 million players worldwide. If you would like more information about Facebook's Game of the Year awards, you can download the accompanying assets here.

Topics (Global)

1. US Presidential Election

2. November 13 Attacks in Paris
3. Syrian Civil War & Refugee Crisis
4. Nepal Earthquakes
5. Greek Debt Crisis
6. Marriage Equality
7. Fight Against ISIS
8. Charlie Hebdo Attack
9. Baltimore Protests

10. Charleston Shooting & Flag Debate

Topics South Africa

1. Jacob Zuma

2. Rugby World Cup
3. Eskom Electricity Crisis
4. Mayweather / Pacquiao fight
5. Nkandla Scandal
6. November 13 Attacks in Paris
7. US Presidential Election
8. Cricket World Cup
9. Trevor Noah

10. Mmusi Maimane

Places South Africa

1. Kruger National Park

2. V&A Waterfront
3. Table Mountain
4. uShaka Marine World
5. Montecasino
6. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
7. Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope
8. FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
9. Gateway Theatre of Shopping

10. Lion Park, Johannesburg

Entertainers (Global)

1. Ed Sheeran

2. Taylor Swift
3. Kanye West
4. Nicky Jam
5. Wiz Khalifa
6. Drake
7. Pitbull
8. Caitlyn Jenner
9. The Weeknd

10. Shakira

TV Shows (Global)

1. Game of Thrones

2. The Walking Dead
3. The Daily Show
4. Saturday Night Live
5. WWE Raw
6. The Simpsons
7. 19 Kids and Counting
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

10. Orange is the New Black

Movies (Global)

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

2. Furious 7
3. Jurassic World
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. American Sniper
6. Straight Outta Compton
7. Fifty Shades of Grey
8. Mad Max: Fury Road
9. Magic Mike XXL

10. Pitch Perfect 2

Athletes (Global)

1. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

2. Manny Pacquiao
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Lionel Messi
5. Cristiano Ronaldo
6. Tom Brady
7. Stephen Curry
8. LeBron James
9. Serena Williams

10. Carlos Tevez

Politicians (Global)

1. Barack Obama

2. Donald Trump
3. Dilma Rousseff
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Bernie Sanders
6. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
7. Recep Taytip Erdogan
8. Muhammadu Buhari
9. Narendra Modi

10. Benjamin Netanyahu

Places (Top 20 Global)

*Based on check-in data rather than conversation data

1. Disney Properties

2. Universal Studios Properties
3. Times Square, New York City
4. Eiffel Tower
5. Niagara Falls
6. Siam Paragon
7. Grand Canyon National Park
8. Yosemite National Park
9. The Louvre
10. Central Park
11. Beto Carrero World
12. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London
13. Gardens by the Bay
14. Marina Bay Sands
15. Ibirapuera Park
16. Hollywood Walk of Fame
17. Madison Square Garden
18. Santa Monica Pier
19. Camp Nou

20. Expo Milano 2015

New Games (Global)

1. FIFA 15

2. Fallout Shelter & Fallout 4
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
4. Mortal Kombat X
5. Batman: Arkham Knight
6. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
7. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
8. Dying Light
9. Star Wars: Battlefront

10. Halo 5: Guardians

New Sticker Packs (Global)

1. Biscuit in Love

2. Minions
3. Bigli Migli
4. Dance Party
5. Hello Brown
6. MiM on the Move
7. Rilakkuma
8. The GaMERCaT
9. The Peanuts Movie

10. Inside Out

New Sticker Packs South Africa

1. Biscuit in Love

2. Minions
3. Bigli Migli
4. Dance Party
5. Love, Bigli Migli
6. SpongeBob
7. Taz
8. Boo and Buddy
9. Ulysses S. Unicorn

10. League of Legends

Methodology

All Year in Review lists (except New Sticker Packs and Places) were measured by how frequently a topic was mentioned in Facebook posts made between January 1 and December 1, 2015. To put these lists together, Facebook posts were analysed in an aggregated, anonymized way, and then ranked to create a snapshot of the year on Facebook.

The Top 20 Global Places and all country-specific Places lists are based on the number of Facebook check-ins at these locations over the course of 2015. To determine the Top New Sticker Packs, we looked at all sticker packs that launched in 2015 and ranked them by most sticker sends per day averaged across the year.

For more information, click here.