You may have seen Facebook’s 2012 Trends already. If you haven’t, you can read their lists here. These are the categories of trends and some of the relevant content:

Public Figures: President Barack Obama was the most important figure, followed by his challenger Mitt Romney, then it gets weird: the boy band One Direction (which I know from that commercial with Drew Brees), Tim Tebow, the Manning brothers, Madonna (Madonna, did this get added from another year?), Honey Boo Boo (who is that?), Jeremy Lin, Paul Ryan, and someone called Phillip Phillips.

Memes: The acronyms TBH (To Be Honest, #1), YOLO (You Only Live Once, #2), and SMH (Shaking My Head, #8) were some of the most popular. People talked about things like “Gangham Style” (#5) and “Linsanity” (#10) a lot too.

Events: The most important event of the year was the presidential election. The Super Bowl, Whitney Houston’s death, “Superstorm” Sandy, and the London Olympics round out the top five.

“Check-Ins” (i.e., when Facebook users announced their location): Times Square was #1, Disney Land #2, and the best ever, AT&T Park in San Francisco was #3. Go Giants!

Technology: Instagram was #1, which should thrill my wife, and explains why Twitter is trying to compete.

Television: A show called “Duck Dynasty” was a big deal. I’ve heard of it, but never watched it. In fact, the only show I have watched on the list is “The Big Bang Theory” listed at #3 (but none of this season).

Movies: The Hunger Games was the winner. (I think I heard Rodney Thomas cuss and scream something about TDKR!)

Books: The Hunger Games was the winner.

Music: The most listened to song was “Fun” by We Are Young. Yes, that bloody-catchy tune “Call Me Maybe” made the list as well.

Sports: The New York Giants were the most popular/mentioned team. The San Francisco Giants didn’t crack the top ten (I hate you America!), but Tim Tebow was #3.

World: The biggest thing in France was their new President, Francis Hollande. The the UK it was the Olympics. In Australia it was the boy band One Direction (really, Mark Stevens?!). In Italy it was something called “Terremoto”. In Brazil something called “Avenida Brasil” (and apparently “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele was a smash hit). Surprise, I am a typical American! I have no idea what most of these trends mean: in Spain “Trabajo”, in Germany “BVB”, India “Tumhi Ho Bandhu”, and Russia, well, this: Владимир Путин.

So, now that you know these things, how do you feel about your country and world?!