Facebook tops list of most-viewed Wikipedia articles in 2012

Apple and Google have already looked back on the year in apps, but what were the most popular articles on Wikipedia in the last 12 months?

We can find out for the first time, thanks to these stats compiled by Swedish software engineer Johan Gunnarsson. They're taken from Wikipedia's log files, according to AllThingsD. And topping the list, with more than 32 million views? Facebook.

Second is Wiki, and rather morbidly "Deaths in 2012" came in third. Maybe more depressingly, One Direction was fourth. This year's film of The Avengers came in fifth, followed by the bonkathon Fifty Shades of Grey.

"2012 phenomenon" was next -- not sure what that could be referring to. Gangnam Style, maybe? No, that came in at 21, actually. The Dark Knight Rises, Google, and The Hunger Games finish off the top 10.

So why is Facebook top? Gunnarsson says popular web properties generate a lot of interest, but it could also be because people search for Facebook, then accidentally click the Wikipedia link. Though when I google "Facebook", Wikipedia doesn't make on the first page.

You can see the full list for yourself here, along with the top 100 Wikipedia articles in other languages, too. Facebook didn't fare too badly with those as well, it seems.

Other tech articles making the top 100 include YouTube (12), Prometheus (24), Wikipedia itself (27) -- which is a bit like looking up the word "dictionary" in a dictionary -- and Steve Jobs (64).

Facebook was also in the news recently when Mark Zuckerberg's sister Randi accidentally made public a photo on the social network. Someone tweeted it, and before Randi knew it the whole interweb could see her picture of the Zuckerberg family in the kitchen. Randi complained, and she received no shortage of replies pointing out maybe she should have a word with Mark about Facebook's recent changes to privacy settings.

What have you searched Wikipedia for this year? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.