South America provided the platform for well-wishers to send their birthday greetings to 20-year-old pop star Miley Cyrus, getting hashtag #HappyBirthdayMileyFromBrazil off the ground and making it a top worldwide trend.

As European politicians pow-wow over budgetary matters (hashtag #euco), North American shoppers chat Black Friday, that day of consumer madness that marks the start of the end-of-year present-purchasing rush.

“People trample each other for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have” remarked @ItsJennaMarbles (a fan account for the real YouTube star), while @jaelithe suggested being “thankful for the retail workers who stayed up all night and skipped time with family to help you.”

Among celebrity Twitter users, the Kardashian clan clubbed together to promote their Dash boutique; in contrast, Full Metal Jacket and Dark Knight Rises actor Matthew Modine observed that “you cannot transform your life by purchasing things”, advised shoppers to “buy repairable things that last”, and retweeted a Thoreau quote: ‘A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without’.

The top 10 most talked about topics on Twitter on November 23 at 3.30pm GMT are:

01. #FollowMe1D
02. #HappyBirthdayMileyFromBrazil
03. #ÖğretmenDediğin
04. #BlackFriday
05. #Geekandproud
06. Feliz Viernes
07. Christmas
08. #SMTOWNSG
09. #euco
10. #FFBack