The Buzziest Buzzwords of 2011

From planking to occupying, check out the words that defined the past year. For more, head to our Top 10 of Everything list, and check out our reader poll for Word of the Year.

United State of Pop 2011: Mashing Up the Year in Music

The year was dominated by stars like Adele, Rihanna and Katy Perry.

YouTube

“We always count on the holiday season to give us a big boost at the end of the year, and it just didn’t happen.”

⎯ PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, Hollywood.com analyst, on a bad 2011 — and Christmas — for U.S. cinema attendance. The year was down 5.3% from 2010; the lowest head count since 1995. Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible, Ghost Protocol beat The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to the holiday weekend No. 1 spot with a solid $26.5 million [...]

protest home

Six Basic Twitter Reactions to ‘The Protester’ as TIME’s Person of the Year

Every year, we field criticism and praise for our pick of the most influential Person of the Year. According to Twitter, these were the most common reactions to our selection this year.

Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

Touching Video: 2011′s Most Memorable Moments

GOOD Magazine condenses the entire year into 104 seconds.

TIME

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: People’s Choice for TIME’s 2011 Person of the Year

The Turkish Prime Minister was the most popular — and the least popular — in our annual online poll.

Facebook

Death, Destruction and the Packers: What Facebook Talked About in 2011

Osama bin Laden, Kate Middleton and Rihanna now have something in common.

iphone4

Yahoo’s Top Searches: iPhones, Celebrities

Want to be popular online? Be infamous — or at least have cool apps.

Jemal Countess / Getty Images

Who Should Be TIME’s 2011 Person of the Year? Our Panel Sounds Off

Made up of actors, newsmen and Crocs-sporting chefs, our panel members had plenty of opinions.

Courtesy of the Miss Universe Organization

Photos: Miss Universe 2011′s Most Bizarre National Costumes

Behold the pageant’s wacky—and occasionally tacky—national costumes.