“School” once again tops the list of things Twitterers are giving up for Lent, with over 5% of tweets mentioning it. This year’s list is quite stable compared to last year’s, especially in the top ten.
My hypothesis last year was that “school” was so high because Ash Wednesday coincided with spring break at many schools, but that isn’t the case this year. In the UK, A-Level exams are coming up at the beginning of March, so that may be part of it.
Another surprise for me this year, given the cold weather gripping the northeastern United States, is that weather-related tweets aren’t more popular; as a category, they move up one place from last year (to #12 from #13), though individually “snow” moves up eight places and “cold weather” moves up 79 places.
Hot Cheetos continue their run, making the top 100 for the first time.
The biggest surprise to me is #12, f***boys. I wasn’t familiar with this term before, and I’m still not totally sure what it means. Knowyourmeme.com says that it’s “used as a pejorative toward men who are perceived as oversexed or disrespectful toward women,” while also serving as a meme involving skeletons on Tumblr. It’s easily the biggest gainer this year.
This list draws from 409,000 tweets during February 14 to 21 that mention giving up something for Lent and, except as noted, excludes retweets.
| Rank | Word | Count | Change from last year’s rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | School | 6,281 | 0 |
| 2. | Chocolate | 4,293 | 0 |
| 3. | 3,876 | 0 | |
| 4. | Alcohol | 3,216 | +1 |
| 5. | Social networking | 3,090 | +2 |
| 6. | Swearing | 2,887 | -2 |
| 7. | Soda | 2,473 | -1 |
| 8. | Sweets | 2,122 | 0 |
| 9. | Fast food | 2,056 | 0 |
| 10. | Coffee | 1,706 | +4 |
| 11. | College | 1,631 | +27 |
| 12. | F***boys | 1,527 | |
| 13. | You | 1,462 | +5 |
| 14. | Lent | 1,348 | -4 |
| 15. | Meat | 1,335 | -4 |
| 16. | Homework | 1,208 | -4 |
| 17. | Sex | 1,165 | -2 |
| 18. | Junk food | 1,112 | -5 |
| 19. | Pizza | 1,067 | +1 |
| 20. | Bread | 1,060 | -3 |
| 21. | Chips | 905 | -5 |
| 22. | 853 | -3 | |
| 23. | Boys | 665 | +6 |
| 24. | Candy | 625 | -2 |
| 25. | Netflix | 610 | +12 |
| 26. | Religion | 602 | -2 |
| 27. | Beer | 596 | +5 |
| 28. | Starbucks | 591 | -7 |
| 29. | Work | 575 | -2 |
| 30. | Sugar | 565 | +15 |
| 31. | 554 | -8 | |
| 32. | Ice cream | 520 | -4 |
| 33. | Life | 489 | 0 |
| 34. | Winter | 454 | +2 |
| 35. | Smoking | 441 | -4 |
| 36. | Wine | 435 | +13 |
| 37. | Me | 434 | +10 |
| 38. | Cookies | 430 | -12 |
| 39. | Chipotle | 422 | +4 |
| 40. | Snapchat | 408 | +16 |
| 41. | Feelings | 393 | +27 |
| 42. | Marijuana | 381 | -12 |
| 43. | Shopping | 374 | -3 |
| 44. | Rice | 357 | +10 |
| 45. | My phone | 351 | -6 |
| 45. | Virginity | 351 | -21 |
| 46. | Catholicism | 337 | +9 |
| 47. | Food | 329 | -13 |
| 48. | Cheese | 315 | -2 |
| 49. | Stuff | 307 | -8 |
| 50. | McDonald’s | 300 | -15 |
| 51. | Carbs | 295 | -1 |
| 52. | Snow | 284 | +8 |
| 53. | Desserts | 276 | +8 |
| 54. | French fries | 257 | +9 |
| 55. | People | 248 | +4 |
| 56. | Coke | 245 | +1 |
| 57. | Fried food | 242 | -5 |
| 58. | Red meat | 237 | +14 |
| 59. | Masturbation | 233 | -15 |
| 60. | Selfies | 230 | -18 |
| 61. | Hope | 224 | +23 |
| 61. | Sobriety | 224 | -14 |
| 62. | Procrastination | 219 | -4 |
| 63. | Complaining | 216 | +14 |
| 64. | Makeup | 214 | +2 |
| 64. | Caffeine | 214 | -12 |
| 65. | Booze | 211 | +17 |
| 65. | Negativity | 211 | +5 |
| 66. | Takeout | 210 | -2 |
| 67. | Eating out | 184 | +22 |
| 68. | Cake | 183 | +17 |
| 69. | Chick Fil A | 179 | +31 |
| 70. | Obama | 178 | -5 |
| 71. | Fizzy drinks | 175 | -9 |
| 72. | Porn | 173 | -4 |
| 73. | Diet Coke | 172 | 0 |
| 74. | Pancakes | 159 | +5 |
| 75. | Breathing | 158 | 0 |
| 76. | Classes | 157 | +55 |
| 77. | Sleep | 156 | +6 |
| 78. | Peanut butter | 152 | +2 |
| 79. | Cold weather | 151 | +79 |
| 80. | Hot Cheetos | 145 | +25 |
| 81. | Liquor | 144 | +13 |
| 82. | Tea | 143 | -4 |
| 83. | Dunkin Donuts | 138 | +27 |
| 84. | Taco Bell | 137 | -17 |
| 85. | Men | 135 | +21 |
| 86. | Sarcasm | 133 | -12 |
| 87. | Winning | 127 | +32 |
| 88. | Online shopping | 126 | +19 |
| 89. | Sweet tea | 125 | -8 |
| 90. | Caring | 124 | -14 |
| 91. | Pasta | 123 | -5 |
| 92. | Naps | 122 | +23 |
| 93. | Juice | 117 | +5 |
| 94. | Nothing | 115 | -25 |
| 94. | A levels | 115 | +37 |
| 94. | Being mean | 115 | +4 |
| 95. | Him | 113 | +22 |
| 96. | New Year’s resolutions | 112 | +34 |
| 97. | My swag | 111 | -27 |
| 97. | Gluten | 111 | +4 |
| 98. | Exercise | 110 | -8 |
| 98. | Church | 110 | -4 |
| 99. | My boyfriend | 109 | +2 |
| 100. | Dairy | 106 | +26 |
Including Retweets
If we include retweets, here are the top ten things given up this year. It’s somewhat different:
| Rank | Word | Count | Difference from non-retweet rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | School | 38,532 | 0 |
| 2. | College | 17,615 | +9 |
| 3. | F***boys | 6,461 | +9 |
| 4. | Chocolate | 5,127 | -2 |
| 5. | 5,074 | -2 | |
| 6. | Alcohol | 4,427 | -2 |
| 7. | Social networking | 3,968 | -2 |
| 8. | Swearing | 3,534 | -2 |
| 9. | Obama | 3,351 | +61 |
| 10. | You | 2,940 | +3 |
| 11. | Soda | 2,820 | -4 |
| 12. | Coffee | 2,506 | -2 |
| 13. | Sweets | 2,499 | -5 |
| 14. | Homework | 2,456 | +2 |
| 15. | Fast food | 2,356 | -6 |
Second-Wave Social Media
Has Instagram peaked?
Fast Food
Chipotle passes McDonald’s this year. Chick Fil A passes Taco Bell, and Whataburger continues its rise.
Snack Foods
Hot Cheetos are still on the move.
TV vs. Netflix
As TV declines, Netflix rises.
Categories
| Rank | Category | Number of Tweets |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | food | 30,148 |
| 2. | school/work | 10,819 |
| 3. | technology | 9,277 |
| 4. | habits | 8,057 |
| 5. | smoking/drugs/alcohol | 6,230 |
| 6. | relationship | 4,229 |
| 7. | irony | 2,978 |
| 8. | sex | 2,274 |
| 9. | health/hygiene | 1,601 |
| 10. | religion | 1,470 |
| 11. | entertainment | 1,069 |
| 12. | weather | 986 |
| 13. | generic | 834 |
| 14. | shopping | 685 |
| 15. | sports | 410 |
| 16. | money | 276 |
| 17. | politics | 216 |
| 18. | clothes | 174 |
| 19. | celebrity | 165 |
| 20. | possessions | 83 |
Media Coverage
The Lent Tracker received some media attention this year. In roughly chronological order:
- What is Lent and when does it start? (Bath Chronicle)
- Will millions of Christians give up Facebook and Twitter for Lent? (MarketWatch)
- Top things Twitter users are ‘giving up’ for Lent (AZ Central. It even has a video.)
- Chocolate or Facebook – what will you be giving up this Ash Wednesday for Lent? (Irish Central)
- 7 Ideas to Give Up For Lent (or just because) (North DelaWHERE Happening)
- Top 10 Things People Will Be Giving Up For Lent, According to Twitter (97.3 The Dawg)
- What To Give Up for Lent? Twitter Reveals Top 100 Ideas of 2015 (Christianity Today)
- Here’s What People On Twitter Say They’re Giving Up For Lent (Time)
- What do Twitter users say they’re giving up for Lent? (KWWL)
- The Alpha and Omega of Lent: 5 FAQs on Ash Wednesday (AL.com)
- Chocolate, smoking, fast food: What are you giving up for Lent? (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
- Here’s What People on Twitter Say They’re Giving Up For Lent (Ryot News + Action)
- When is Lent 2015 and what should I give up? (Lincolnshire Echo)
- What people are giving up for Lent, as told to Twitter (Washington Post. I actually spoke to this reporter.)
- School and chocolate top list of what Twitter users are giving up for Lent (Kansas City Star)