The Most Discussed Issues on Facebook and Instagram in July [Infographic]

Facebook has released the latest version of its monthly Hot Topics report, covering the subjects and issues that were most mentioned by Facebook users in July.

The Hot Topics reports are a great reference point for those looking to optimize their Facebook posts and campaigns – not only do the reports show you what was being discussed, but who by, in terms of general demographics (male/female, younger/older), which can help provide guidance on what’s resonating amongst your specific target market/s.

So what was gaining traction on Facebook last month?

As usual, national holidays get a lot of attention on Facebook – which makes sense, people share their thoughts and opinions on such days. But they can skew the data somewhat when you’re trying to conduct research on what’s most relevant to your audience – it’s pretty much a given that seasonal events will come up and you need to factor them into your marketing plan where possible.

To make it a little clearer as to what else was resonating, here’s the chart with seasonal holiday mentions removed.

That makes it a little clearer – though it is relevant to note the popularity of celebrations like Christmas in July and Canada Day, as they may help planning for future campaigns.

In terms of key topics of note, younger men are very interested in the upcoming Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather boxing match, while the death of Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was also a key topic of focus.  

Among older users, you can see that Le Tour de France was popular with older men, while tennis star Kim Clijsters, who was recently inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was also highly mentioned. Country singer Garth Brooks also got a lot of attention, as did zucchini amongst older women. Not sure what the story is with that.

Over on Instagram, the story was, again, similar, though with more entertainment-related mentions (which is normally how it goes among Instagram users).

This is likely influenced by the younger user base of Instagram.

As always, Facebook has also provided Hot Topics charts for:

Australia

Canada

The UK

As noted, the Hot Topics report is always worth a look – even if you’re absolutely confident you know and understand your target market, there are always smaller trends and shifts within the data that come up, and may help refine your campaign focus in order to generate better response.