Facebook: Top 10 stories from UK outlets in 2014

2014 was a big year for Facebook. The social networked turned 10 years old, and acquired chat app WhatsApp and virtual reality company Oculus Rift, to name but a few examples.

It also made a number of tweaks to its newsfeed, meaning posts with images and video now do better than text updates, and video uploaded straight to Facebook, where it autoplays, often gets noticed over YouTube embeds.

As social media referrals have become an increasingly large share of publishers' web traffic, staying on top of Facebook's news feed updates is a constant point of focus for news outlets.

So who fared best in 2014? We looked at stories from 11 major UK outlets* in collaboration with social analytics platform NewsWhip, to see how many times stories have been shared, liked and commented on Facebook in 2014.

Here are the 10 most popular articles on Facebook in 2014 – with a picture story topping the list of course:

1. Mail Online: Frozen in time: Michigan lighthouses transformed into stunning giant icicles after being frozen solid by storm

Total: 586,250 shares, 'likes' and comments

2. The Guardian: You can’t detox your body. It’s a myth. So how do you get healthy?

Total: 511,190 shares, 'likes' and comments

3. The Telegraph: Man sings Let it Go in voices of Disney and Pixar characters

Total: 489,947 shares, 'likes' and comments

4. Mail Online: Harness of hope: Invention from mother of wheelchair-bound son helps him and other physically impaired children walk for the first time

Total: 488,742 shares, 'likes' and comments

5. Mail Online: You thought beard baubles were a festive trend too far... Now hipsters are making their facial hair Christmassy with elaborate robins' nests, icicles and candy canes

Total: 477,446 shares, 'likes' and comments

6. ITV News: Schoolgirl beats up attacker after he grabs her in a park

Total: 468,246 shares, 'likes' and comments

7. The Guardian: Robin Williams's death: a reminder that suicide and depression are not selfish

Total: 428,251 shares, 'likes' and comments

8. Mail Online: 'When we're naked, it's like we're all the same': Yoga studio offers all-nude co-ed classes to overcome body issues and vulnerability

Total: 419,202 shares, 'likes' and comments

9. The Express: Britain to face ARCTIC WINTER as mild autumn triggers polar gales and heavy snow

Total: 386,754 shares, 'likes' and comments

10. The Mirror: Giant spiders set to invade UK homes this autumn, warn experts

Total: 315,613 shares, 'likes' and comments

* The 11 outlets were the Guardian, Mail Online, the BBC, The Times, The Express, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Sun, The Mirror, Channel 4 News and ITV News

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