2011 Women’s World Cup Final Shatters Twitter Record

The Women's World Cup final might not have gone the was the United States would have wanted, but it made tweeting history with a new world record for Twitter time density - a staggering 7,196 tweets per second were recorded in the final seconds of the penalty shootout that saw Japan crowned as new world champions. For comparison's sake, the death of Osama bin Laden just months ago saw 5,106 tweets registered per second, 2,000 fewer than those writing about the women's game.

The tweeting didn't stop there, however, as Twitter then registered a perhaps even more astonishing 7,166 tweets per second for the end of the Copa America quarterfinal match that saw holders and favourites Brazil knocked out by Paraguay - again, on penalties. Quite why a Copa America quarterfinal that was less exciting than the one held the day prior now holds second place in terms of all-time tweeting density is a little unclear. Perhaps twitterers just really like talking about penalty misses?