Oscars upstaged by Super Bowl in Twitter tally

Twitter users fired off 36.4 million messages during the 83rd Academy Awards, about two million fewer than during last month's Super Bowl.

"This was a huge event, with a huge conversation happening around it -- not in sharp spikes, but in a broad, sustained surge," the San Francisco-based Twitter said in a blog post.

Twitter said users of the micro-blogging service tapped out 38.5 million tweets during the Feb 7 Super Bowl won by the Green Bay Packers.

Among those tweeting on Sunday night at the Oscars was co-host James Franco, star of "127 Hours."

Franco's account, @jamesfranco, was mentioned 63,737 times on Twitter during the show, Twitter said.

(c) 2011 AFP