The reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama turned out to be the biggest online topic of 2012, according to social media tracker General Sentiment.

Obama’s reelection drew more than 17 million mentions on the Internet, topping the ranking based on the survey of 60 million English-language websites across the globe.

Five out of the top 15 events that inspired the most mentions were related to the U.S. election, demonstrating the heightened public interest about the crucial choice.

Hurricane Sandy ranked second in the list, generating upwards of 9 million mentions around the world. The surge in online mentions on the devastating hurricane reflects the greater role of social media and online platforms in disseminating and sharing the latest news and information to help victims.

Early this year, the entire online community worldwide was roiled by the hotly debated issue on the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. Over 8.7 million mentions popped up on the dispute linked to the high-profile bloc of web services such as Google and Wikipedia in January.

The Grammy Awards came in at 6th on the list with about 7 million mentions. Trailing behind were the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the Oscars and the Apple’s unveiling of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6.

The recent shooting rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut ranked 13th in terms of online mentions.

(From news reports)