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It's been an eventful year for everyone involved with iReport. We can tell because we've seen nearly 185,000 iReports shared through this platform, of which nearly 15,000 submissions were approved for possible use on CNN.
With a pool of participation that large, we were inspired to take a closer look at the numbers.
On average, we received 511 iReports per day in 2011, but the actual number of iReports shared spiked and dropped to the tune of the news. The East Coast earthquake, a singular and rare event which affected millions of well-connected U.S. residents, provided the highest spike in contributions this year. Other events like Osama bin Laden's death, the Japan tsunami, and Hurricane Irene, also fueled an increase in submissions.
Assignments
Some assignments seem to work like magic. For example, iReporters end up documenting history in the making, or the submissions somehow tap into cultural zeitgeist. The number of contributions an assignment receives is one way to gauge what topics matter the most to our community, and to the CNN audience.
Let's take a look at the 10 most popular assignments of 2011.
Assignments with the most iReports submitted, in 2011:
| 1) | Breaking news | ... | 5809 |
| 2) | Sound-off | ... | 4356 |
| 3) | Arab unrest | ... | 4344 |
| 4) | Travel photo of the day | ... | 3728 |
| 5) | Hurricane Irene | ... | 3616 |
| 6) | Winter weather | ... | 3478 |
| 7) | Occupy Wall Street protests | ... | 3235 |
| 8) | Travel Snapshots | ... | 2978 |
| 9) | Severe weather | ... | 2819 |
| 10) | East coast earthquake | ... | 2151 |
iReporters
The "On CNN" stamp allows us to feature iReporters' original, well-produced, and relevant content on CNN. In 2011, veteran iReporter Kathi Cordsen had the most vetted contributions. Chris Morrow, another veteran iReporter, wasn't far behind. She was vetted 166 times and broke the mark of 1,000 vetted iReports, a first in our platform.
These iReporters were successful because they focused on specific beats, such as geographic or topical, and because they followed our assignment desk closely and made thoughtful contributions to iReport projects throughout the year, like iReport boot camp, Destination Adventure, Freedom Project, and the cultural census.
Most approved iReports in 2011:
| 1) | Kathi Cordsen | ... | 170 |
| 2) | Chris Morrow | ... | 166 |
| 3) | Allen Mealey | ... | 115 |
| 4) | Lorena Isla | ... | 104 |
| 5) | Sherbien Dacalanio | ... | 76 |
| 6) | Lulis Leal | ... | 75 |
| 7) | Shari Atukorala | ... | 70 |
| 8) | Omekongo Dibinga | ... | 69 |
| 9) | Jerry Gonzales | ... | 68 |
| 10) | Brett Martin | ... | 66 |
A community like ours wouldn’t be successful without a steady influx of new iReporters. In 2011 we grew by an amazing 37%, to reach nearly one million registered users! We’ve had some standout additions in 2011. Fatima Puskar shared with us a steady stream of iReports from Cairo, Egypt, throughout a year that has marked history for the African nation. Rachel Cauvin and Craig Smith have done an exceptional job of documenting New York City happenings and globe trotting expeditions respectively. And one newcomer iReporter shined brightly from down under the down under. Jerry Gonzales has delighted us time and again with well-produced iReports giving us a glimpse into the sights and stories of his hometown of New Plymouth, New Zealand.
Rookies with the most "On CNN" iReports in 2011:
| 1) | Jerry Gonzales | ... | 68 |
| 2) | Fatima Puskar | ... | 56 |
| 3) | Craig Smith | ... | 44 |
| 4) | Rachel Cauvin | ... | 37 |
| 5) | Allan Cook | ... | 35 |
| 6) | Ivan Klindic | ... | 30 |
| 7) | John McGraw | ... | 29 |
| 8) | Heba Hassan | ... | 28 |
| 9) | Jason Sauter | ... | 28 |
| 10) | Kristian Johansson | ... | 23 |
If an iReport story is generating a lot of conversation in the comments area, that's a fairly reliable indicator that it's resonating at some level in our community. We've already compiled a list of some of our most-commented stories. Tops was a story about a boy's love for his dad. We also took a look at the usernames who have commented the most in 2011. There's lots of ways to participate in CNN iReport that go way beyond uploading stories, and commenting is one of the most important ways users can contribute to the community. The most prolific commenter from 2011, iReporter NuYwk, regularly chimes in with opinions about issues in the news, and provides encouragement for other users.
Usernames with the most comments in 2011:
| 1) | NuYwk | ... | 15,206 |
| 2) | TheVideoMan | ... | 9,713 |
| 3) | ireporttwo | ... | 8,441 |
| 4) | larena | ... | 6,833 |
| 5) | rosehips | ... | 6,363 |
iReports
While our strengths lie in stitching tapestries of stories and ideas, we couldn't achieve that without strong, captivating, and sometimes controversial individual efforts. Our most-viewed iReports were about a surprising variety of subjects. We saw some big news stories represented, like the Japan earthquake and tsunami. But then, we also saw fun stories like Snake in the Christmas tree.
These are highly unique stories that were featured on CNN.com, and struck a nerve with our audience.
Most viewed iReports of 2011:
| 1) | Swaying ground in Chiba, Japan | ... | 306,892 | |
| 2) | Judgement Day: May 21, 2011 | ... | 250,015 | |
| 3) | Tribute to Bryan Nichols | ... | 213,042 | |
| 4) | Black Friday violence | ... | 212,813 | |
| 5) | F16 crash at aviation convention | ... | 182,223 | |
| 6) | Malaysian newspaper controversy | ... | 180,377 | |
| 7) | Snake in the Christmas tree | ... | 153,978 | |
| 8) | Horse showering in the sprinkler | ... | 152,311 | |
| 9) | Pepsi can celebrating September 11th? | ... | 140,872 | |
| 10) | Green Bay ice shoves | ... | 136,794 |
In just a couple of days we'll welcome 2012 and the new challenges and opportunities that it will bring. Help us say goodbye to 2011 and celebrate the New Year, wherever you may be.
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I wish you all the best in the 2012! Best regards from Croatia.
Happy New Year 2012 to everyone from California....
Happy New Year from OFW of Saudi Arabia...
happy new year to all. have a safe 2012 ahead.
I am trying to upload my New Yaer´s Eve Party... loading... loading...
Happy New Year from Jerusalem to everyone! I wish you all the best!!
Congratulations to all the top iReporters out there. I've met or chatted with almost everyone of them and I'm grateful to CNN for that privilege more than an anything else.
Much more Metta for 2012
Percy
Happy New Year to all! ;)
Happy New Year to all :)
Happy New Year!
I'm the 5th highest commenter on ireports?
I've got to get a new life. lol
Elhueco, thank you for your good piece of work!
Very Happy New Year to EVERYONE!!!
Congrats to all the CNN iReporters, and for CNN fostering the concept. News and stories from around the world 24 hours a day, and then some. In a research study I am conducting, college students feel CNN is the most unbiased of the mainstream media while reporting poilitics. Great work!
As a traveler and photographer i Reports are the best thing I have done ever. It started in the Java Sea as a whim and has become a passion. Fun to share life with everyone!
GOOD IDEA.
OTRA ESTADISITICA QUE PUEDEN REALIZAR ES DE LAS VISITAS PROMEDIOS POR REPORTAJE DE CADA UNO DE LOS iREPORTERS.
elchueco thanks best wishes and best wishes to everyone