Twitter Explodes on Super Sunday

By Nick Ostiller

Whether you were watching last Sunday's Super Bowl on a couch with your friends or at a bar with people who temporarily became your friends, the game was definitely entertaining as it came down to a final defensive stand - or a missed call depending on who you were rooting for. Even more entertaining were the hordes of people enjoying the Super Bowl XLVII on Twitter.

There were a Super Bowl record 24.1 million tweets sent out during the game, almost doubling the amount posted during last year's matchup. What could explain this surge in the Twittersphere? 

For starters, Beyoncé had jaws in America dropping further and further as her turn-back-the-clock performance generated over 268,000 tweets per minute. There was plenty of pomp and circumstance including fire, smokescreens and the featuring of Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland for a Destiny's Child reunion. Needless to say, people were excited:

Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars): "Beyonce got some stamina ! I'd be coughing blood by now."

Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47): "Beyonce = everything. I'm dying. I've died. I am dead. #IRegretNothing."

Stephen A. Smith (@stephenasmith): "BEYONCE is a baaaaaaddddddd MAMA JAMA!!! If y'all don't know, Y'all better ask somebody."

Mesmerized by Beyoncé, people probably forgot there was still football to be played. Baltimore's Jacoby Jones turned America's attention back to the game as he caught the opening kickoff of the second half and proceeded to run it back for an 108-yeard touchdown. Not only did his sprint set an NFL postseason record for longest kickoff return, but he did it in a whopping 11 seconds. Although Jones was in a hurry to help his team win, others speculated the true motive behind his mad dash:

Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30): "He was running like he was trying to catch Beyonce in the tunnel before she left!!! Waaaaaaaaiiitttttt."

As if the Super Bowl needed any more storylines, half of the lights in the Superdome inexplicitly turned off shortly after Jones' touchdown. It was an awkward 34 minutes before play resumed, in which NBC literally could not go to commercials because there were probably only so many companies willing to pay the pretty penny for an ad during the big game. Instead of listening to the halftime analysts who were called back to improvise, people simply turned to the website where all of the action was:

Onion Sports Network (@OnionSports): "Over 100 NFL players without power in New Orleans right now. Please help. Every donation counts. #SuperBowl."

Walgreens (@Walgreens): "...we also sell lights. #SuperBowl."

Super Bowl Lights parody account (@SuperBowlLights): "Only Beyonce can turn me on."

And then there was my favorite tweet of the night. During Beyoncé's performance, probably every male in America was wishing he was her husband. When the power shut down, that man had something to say:

Jay-Z (@S_C_): "Lights out!!! Any questions??"

Nick Ostiller is a junior communication major.