Women's soccer sets record on Twitter
The decision that gave Japan the victory generated 7.196 messages per second, more than the 7.166 tweets per second following Brazil's defeat to Paraguay.
The Women's World Cup final between Japan and the United States, played on Sunday, set a record for messages posted on Twitter – the internet's microblogging network – per second, surpassing even the British royal wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden.
Japan was twice behind in the 2-2 draw, 1-1 in regulation time and 1-1 in extra time. Thus, the final, played in Frankfurt, Germany, was decided only in a penalty shootout. The United States were seeking their third world title, while the Japanese women were crowned champions for the first time after having lost all 25 previous matches against the Americans.
The dramatic decision generated 7.196 messages per second, according to Twitter. Paraguay's victory over Brazil on penalties in the Copa América quarter-finals, also on Sunday, came close to the record, with 7.166 tweets.
The previous record was set during the New Year's celebrations in Japan, with 6.939 messages. Other events that generated a large number of tweets were the death of Bin Laden – 5.106 messages per second – and the Super Bowl in February – 4.064 messages.
Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the World Cup final in July 2010 registered 3.051 messages, but the tournament record – 3.283 – was reached when Japan beat Denmark in the group stage, proving Twitter's penetration in the Asian country. The record also reflects the craze that the social network has become. Currently, an average of 200 million messages are published per day, compared to 10 million two years ago.