The news of Betty White's death, just weeks before her 100th birthday, made up half of the top 10 link posts on the platform over the past few years, and the right-wing sources that typically dominate Facebook by promoting divisive articles took a back seat this week.
Betty White is in New York City. Gary is pictured with Gershoff/WireImage.
It's WireImage.
The top link post on Facebook this week was from the gossip website, which shared a story about White's death on New Year's Eve.
The post was shared more than 204,000 times and had over 62,000 reactions, according to data compiled by social media tracking firm NewsWhip.
One of the most popular posts about White was from Deadline Hollywood, which shared a story about Don Cheadle paying tribute to her, and another was from Entertainment Weekly, which had a piece about Saturday Night Live re-airing its episode where White served as host.
Dan Bongino's post about the IRS reminding Americans to report stolen property as income was the only conservative post in the top 10.
During the course of the year, right-wing figures dominated news sharing on Facebook, and there were often weeks where Ben Shapiro accounted for all of the top link posts. Franklin Graham shared a story about former President Donald Trump's decline on Forbes' billionaire list last year, and it was the most popular news-related link post in the U.S. last year.
The key background.
White's death just 17 days before her 100th birthday shocked her fans who were looking forward to the milestone, given how she recently said she was in good health. White died peacefully in her sleep, according to her agent. White's career spanned generations, from 1939 to just days before her death, and a January 17 screening set for theaters nationwide marking her 100th birthday will still go on. White was best known for her role in the sitcom The Golden Girls, which aired from 1985-1992, and also for her roles on shows such as Hot in Cleveland and Mary Tyler Moore.
White became the show's oldest host to date at the age of 88 when she hosted SNL on May 8, 2010. The 18 months leading up to her episode scored her a higher rating than all other SNL airings.
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Betty White died at 99 weeks before her birthday.
The screening event for Betty White's 100th birthday will be on CNN.
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