WASHINGTON: Football’s World Cup and the Ebola outbreak topped the list of topics most shared by Facebook users around the globe in 2014, the social networking giant said on Tuesday.

The World Cup was the most shared item globally, followed by the Ebola crisis, Brazilian elections, the death of actor Robin Williams and the “Ice Bucket Challenge” to raise funds for research on Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Rounding out the top 10 were the conflict in Gaza, Malaysia Airlines — which lost two aircraft during the year — American football’s Super Bowl, the Ferguson, Missouri protests over the police shooting death of an unarmed black man, and the Sochi Winter Olympics. But the most shared items varied considerably in different countries.

In the United States, Ebola and the Ice Bucket Challenge were the top two items, followed by Robin Williams, the Super Bowl and the Ferguson, Missouri protests. The World Cup was number six for US users.

Published in Dawn December 10th , 2014