Grammys Were Topic Number 1

The 54th annual Grammy Awards captured the attention of bloggers and Twitter users from February 13-17, making it the No. 1 subject on both social media platforms, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Not only did that represent one of the unusual occasions when the same topic led both social media platforms, bloggers and tweeters also focused on the same element of the story-the honoring of singer Chris Brown. Although pop icon Whitney Houston died the night before the Grammy event, the conversation largely centered on Brown, the winner for best R&B album of the year who drew notoriety after a domestic violence incident three years earlier. Houston's death, however, did generate three of the five most popular YouTube news videos last week. Last week offered another example of just how potent a topic popular culture is in social media-particularly on Twitter. But this was not simply a case of bloggers and tweeters engaged in hero worship or embracing a popular entertainer. Instead it triggered commentary on the issue of domestic abuse. And there was something of a divide in the reactions to Brown's triumphant return to the limelight at the February 12 Grammys. Some admirers who enjoyed his performance shrugged off his history of domestic abuse. But most of the reactions condemned Brown, the Grammy Awards for honoring him, and the fans that seemed to downplay his domestic violence history. Brown himself added fuel to the fire by responding to his critics on Twitter.