Facebook status updates played a starring role in the evolution of the world’s largest social network in 2011.

As several major changes to status updates (increased character limits, for example) rolled out throughout the year, Facebook data scientists kept their eyes focused on tracking the trends among those status updates.

Facebook unleashed that research late Tuesday night in their end-of-year Memology list, which each December since 2009 has helped users understand the most-popular topics, cultural trends and acronyms on the site.

Similar to what was popular on Twitter in 2011, high-profile deaths triggered (see image above) plenty of discussions among you and your friends. On Facebook, the death’s of Osama bin Laden, Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse incited heavy activity in status updates.

SEE ALSO: Beyonce’s Baby Bump Inspired More Tweets Per Second Than Steve Jobs’ Passing

“While it takes days of painstaking work to compile the data, it’s a rare chance to get an insight into what the world is talking about,” data scientist Eytan Bakshy told Mashable.

This year’s list also highlights the fastest-growing topic areas in news, entertainment and sports.

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Most-Listened To Songs

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1. “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Calvin Harris

2. “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” by Katy Perry

3. “Sexy And I Know It” by LMFAO

4. “Titanium” by David Guetta and Sia

5. “First of the Year” by Skrillex

6. “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex

“2011 was also the rise of music producer Skrillex,” Facebook notes. “Although Skrillex has been around for years, his 2011 tour, a collaboration with Korn, and record label launch prompted a 76-fold increase in the number of people mentioning him in their status updates on Facebook.”

7. “Without You” by David Guetta and Usher

8. “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine

9. “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People

10. “Someone Like You” by Adele