Euphoria Is The Most-Tweeted-About Show Of The Decade So Far
In today's bit of news that is no surprise, Twitter has just shared intel about their trending topics, and HBO's massive hit drama "Euphoria" is the website's most popular show. According to Variety, Twitter has named "Euphoria" the most-tweeted-about series, not just of the year, but of the decade to date.
HBO previously reported that the Zendaya-led series has been HBO's biggest social media hit since the "Game of Thrones" finale in 2019. Now, Twitter says the series' second season has garnered 30 million tweets — 51% more than it did during its first season in 2019. Its status as the most-mentioned show of the decade on Twitter puts it above binge-model phenomena like "Squid Game" and "Tiger King," plus ratings bonanzas whose audiences skew older, like "Yellowstone" and "NCIS."
You can't escape these memes
I'm always wary of corporation-reported audience statistics (see also: Netflix's contextless streaming data dumps), but as a human person with a Twitter account, this "Euphoria" news absolutely checks out. Around the time the shocking teen series returned for its second season, I started seeing suggested posts for the show every time I logged on. Twitter's algorithm seems super-powerful, and it clearly wants me to think more about these maladjusted teens than I already do. Even after I asked Twitter to opt me out of tweets under the topic "Euphoria," it kept showing me more, labeled as topics like "Drama TV," "Funny Tweets," and "Zendaya."
This isn't to say the tweets about "Euphoria" aren't generally great. While I personally think the "X could end Nate Jacobs" meme is a bust (it doesn't make sense if it's not a high schooler!), the show has spawned a seemingly endless array of memes that do work over the last two months. From the shot of Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) hiding in the bathtub to Maddy's delivery of "You better be joking," the show is fertile ground for meme material. On the other hand, the high level of engagement has allowed audiences to have serious discussions about topics at the heart of the show, like addiction or depression. Twitter disclosed their data about the show's most-discussed characters, and they're basically the people we're most worried about (Zendaya's Rue, Angus Cloud's Fezco) and the one we can't stand (Jacob Elordi's Nate).
Whether you like the show or not, it's clear the hilarious, profound, and even seemingly competitive act of live-tweeting "Euphoria" has become an inescapable part of the 2022 zeitgeist. The show's second season finale will air on HBO and HBO Max this Sunday, February 27, 2022.