Internal Twitter Data Shows Super Bowl Spike

Kevin Weil, head of the über-smart analytics team at Twitter, has just released an extensive analysis of all worldwide tweets composed during last Sunday's Super Bowl.

As part of their research, the analytics crew looked at the worldwide volume of tweets at a given minute and categorized those that were game-related as well as those pegged to a given commercial being shown. (Because, as we all know, the Super Bowl is about more than football.)

The first Colts touchdown – Peyton Manning's strike to rookie Pierre Garcon – scored the first big spike in tweets, accounting for more than 37 percent globally. Ad-watchers should note that the first Doritos ad recorded the highest Twitter share for any commercial during the night, when it was grabbed 19 percent of all tweets. (Comparatively, Doritos' second go-around nabbed only 16 percent of all tweets.)

Weil breaks down how the second half of the game looked on Twitter's end:

The second half began with a bang as @TheSaints recovered a surprise onside kick, and for the next minute 44% of all worldwide tweets were about football. Chatter around brands had meanwhile dropped to much lower levels until @Google's Parisian Love commercial sparked viewers once more. Excitement around the game grew steadily with large peaks following scores and turnovers up until the final moments. As the game ended, one out of every two tweets on Twitter was about the Super Bowl!

One can only guess that if not for Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, Super Bowl XLIV may have went to overtime and cemented its place as the M*A*S*H finale in Twitter's still-brief history book.