Twitter index: Nobel Prize dominates Twitter

The award to the Euopean Union comes at a time when the EU is racked with division and in the throes of the worst economic crisis in decades. However, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee cited the European Union's long record of reconciling historically opposed countries and restoring democracy to countries previously within the Soviet bloc.

The news that the European Union received this year's Nobel Peace Prize set Twitter buzzing and accounts for three top ten worldwide trending topics -- seventh-place "Nobel Peace Prize," sixth-placed "Friedensnobelpreis" (German for Nobel Peace Prize), and ninth-placed "Union Europea."

The Nobel Prize for Literature accounts for today's tenth-placed trending topic, "Mo Yan." Mo Yan, the pseudonym for Chinese author Guan Moye, was awarded the Prize for his often divisive work which appears to both pander to and attack China's ruling elite. His 2009 novel Frog, for example, addressed the issue of late abortions and sterilization in line with China's one child policy, yet he was also one of around 100 artists who took part in a tribute to former PRC chairman Mao Tse-tung.

The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on October 11 at 12:30 pm GMT are:

01. #50ThingsAboutMyBoyfriend
02. #ThisCumanNANYA
03. #FelizDiaDasCrinças
04. #MentionCeweTercantikMenurutLo
05. #Menus10CantoresFavoritos
06. Friedensnobelpreis
07. Nobel Peace Prize
08. BAAB
09. Union Europea
10. Mo Yan