The hot topics that get Birmingham talking online have been captured for the first time in a unique digital portrait of the city.
Artist Brendan Dawes was commissioned by EE to mark the arrival of 4G in the city.
He captured the social media conversations and topics trending in the region over the three day period from October 29-31, 2012.
The result is a digital snapshot of life in Birmingham in 2012.
Dawes and University College London worked within the categories of sport, politics, film, music, TV, educational, culture and weather – aiming to dig deeper into the topics that affect how people communicate in the city and what they talk about when they go online.
Local and global news were top of the agenda for people in the city, ranging from Simon Le Bon to New York.
The iconic 80s singer was launching the Children’s Air Ambulance which sparked conversation represented by the green circles.
Brummies were also keeping a keen eye on events across the pond and the effects of the hurricane in the New York, shown by the grey areas across the artwork.
Mr Dawes said: “It is the people and the activities within it - work, play and the connections within that define a city.
"This design is a modern sophisticated response to the representation of a city - formed from millions of bits of data as people talk and interact about the biggest events of the day.
"The shape, derived from nature, evoking the organic nature of a network softens the often harsh representation of digital, leaving instead an impression of a modern dynamic system, that we call cities, in the 21st century.”
Each topic and the hundreds of thousands of digital conversations associated with them are represented by a specific colour coded keyword.
From the keywords at the bottom of the artwork a series of lines flare out to form a myriad of coloured interlinked circles.
The thickness of the lines and the size and brightness of the circles represent the popularity of each topic and the frequency at which people were speaking about them.
The 10 hot topics were:
Pride of Britain Awards
Strictly Come Dancing
Simon Le Bon
Paul Glennon, Associate Dean of the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, part of Birmingham City University, said: “We are delighted to accept this donated artwork, not only on behalf of the University but the city as well.
"In many ways this piece reflects the pioneering spirit of Birmingham, as a creative city which embraces the opportunities of digital technology and communications."
Steven Day, Chief of Brands and Communications, EE added: “People know the Birmingham accent as soon as they hear it.
"Now, for the first time, we’ve discovered what it actually looks like."
The artwork will be displayed at Birmingham City University School of Art, Margaret Street building, Margaret Street, Birmingham, B3 3BX from January 29.
For more information on EE, please visit www.ee.co.uk