The news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed broke Twitter records, and a new report by the Pew Research Center takes a look at what people said in those tweets.
The report, which surveys how different social media users addressed Bin Laden's death, found that the most common theme among the social media chatter was humor. While mainstream media focused on details of the raid, and blogs primarily on accounts of the event, 19 percent of social media discussions involved the expression of black humor.
In a Twitter search for "Osama" on May 5, the three most popular tweets were jokes:
@sickipediabot: So Osama Bin Laden is dead... Amazing what the Americans can do when the Playstation Network is down.
@NZAfro: R.I.P Osama Bin Laden - World Hide And Go Seek Champion (2001 - 2011)
@RevRunJnr: A prince gets married, the bad guy is dead. It's a real Disney weekend here on earth. #osama #obl
Expressions of doubt represent the second biggest trend among social media users. According to the Pew study, 17 percent of the social media conversation revolved around whether or not bin Laden was really dead or not. Another 14 percent used the medium to spread the news to their friends, family and acquaintances.
Twitter users were also captivated by the inaccurate report that Bin Laden had used his wife as a human shield.