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Births, deaths and weddings consumed Britons on Facebook in 2011, it has been revealed.
A BBC news story about the global population hitting seven billion topped Facebook’s list of the most popular news stories in 2011.
By contrast, the most talked about topics were the royal wedding, UK riots and TV show The Only Way Is Essex.
The deaths of Amy Winehouse, Osama Bin Laden and Col Muammar Gaddafi were also much discussed.
Facebook put together its list of the most popular news stories by counting the number of clicks on its site for articles posted from the country’s top media outlets which had appeared as wall posts, likes or shared items.
It said the top UK story was a BBC-made graphic which let people enter their birthdate and find out where they ranked among the seven billion people currently alive.
In total, 11 BBC stories featured in Facebook’s top 20 list, including items about a drunken elk trapped in a tree and sub-atomic particles that appeared to travel faster than light.