White Smoke on Twitter: Social Buzz for the New Pope
UPDATED: added a couple additional terms used to talk about the announcement and we’re now at close to 140K TPM at the peak!
As soon as the white smoke was seen pouring out of the Vatican chimney, Twitter erupted with buzz… and when the conclave named Pope Francis I, millions of people around the globe weighed in.
According to Topsy analysis, there were over 137,773 Tweets being posted per minute at the peak around 12:15PT, with over 4M total tweets in the two hours following the announcement (for a total reach of over 15 billion impressions).
Here’s a breakdown of the global conversation.
The Pope’s Twitter account @Pontifex, which had been dormant since the unusual resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, was reactivated tweeting “Habemus papam franciscum.”
Quick reporters may have caught wind of the coming announcement early when the account no longer read “sede vacante.”
The @pontifex Twitter account has already been updated to note it is not empty. No name yet, though.
— Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) March 13, 2013
Here are some of the top photos and Tweets.
Top Photos:
Jorge Bergoglio, fanático de San Lorenzo, es el nuevo Papa. cc @radio102nueve twitter.com/martinezchino/…
— Claudio Martínez (@martinezchino) March 13, 2013
Rome, the Vatican, and the surrounding hills. I’m not certain you can make out the new pope from here, though. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/…
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 13, 2013
Here’s the new Pope #whitesmoke twitter.com/DepressedDarth…
— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) March 13, 2013
Jorge Bergoglio, primer papa latinoamericano internacional.elpais.com/internacional/… #HabemusPapam twitter.com/el_pais/status…
— EL PAIS (@el_pais) March 13, 2013
2013 Pope Draft! twitter.com/NFL_Memes/stat…
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) March 13, 2013
Top Tweets:
White smoke coming out of chimney above Sistine Chapel, meaning #conclave has elected new #Pope bbc.in/X7ogwB #whitesmoke
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 13, 2013
BREAKING NEWS: 2nd Pope elected since Arsenal last won a trophy. #whitesmoke
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 13, 2013
Pope Francis 1 is renowned for his 2001 visit to a hospice, in which he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patients.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 13, 2013
Hoorah, the smoke’s now white. However, if you see smoke (of any colour!) coming from a building that’s not in the #Vatican call 999 #Pope
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) March 13, 2013
Waiting for the Pope to emerge on the balcony in a white gown. Doubt he’ll be singing “Don’t Cry for me Argentina.” A missed opportunity!
— Joan Rivers (@Joan_Rivers) March 13, 2013