Shocking, heartwarming & sad stories: The 2022 News4JAX social posts that clicked most with you

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – What a year. Social media brings us closer in more ways than we could imagine. It’s also a great way to keep up with news and stories from our communities.

In 2022, more people watched videos on TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook than in years past. This led to News4JAX reaching more than 400 million views with our content.

Millions watched videos, liked posts and shared our content all over the world.

Without further ado — here are the top videos, photos and stories from News4JAX in 2022.

Dash cam video shows semitruck driver apparently falling asleep before crash

With more than 80.8 million views, 822,000 likes and 20,000 comments on Instagram and Facebook combined, the I-TEAM story showing dash camera footage from inside a semi — appearing to show a driver nodding off moments before the truck crashed into two cars on the side of the road and a person standing outside them — was hands down the most viewed video from News4JAX in 2022.

The driver claimed that his tire blew out, causing the crash on I-4 in the Tampa area. The video footage obtained shows differently. (Play the video below to watch the full I-TEAM story)

Adorable video of 5-year-old asking girl from class to be his Valentine goes viral

A video showing a 5-year-old boy asking a girl from his class to be his Valentine blew up on social media this year, drawing more than 14 million views on Facebook and Instagram.

The adorable young gentleman, accompanied by his mother, was wearing a suit and holding flowers, chocolate, and what appeared to be a rainbow unicorn. It was so adorable that it went viral!

Jacksonville-based AEW continues to thrive after celebrating 3rd anniversary

We’ve talked about our popular posts on Facebook and Instagram, but let’s not forget about Twitter! On Twitter, the post that received more than a thousand likes was how the Jacksonville-based All Elite Wrestling was continuing to thrive — attracting new fans three years after making its debut.

It received dozens of replies, most surprised by the news or poking fun at Shad Khan, saying to check the ratings again.

Florida snow: Video shows snow falling in the Sunshine State on Monday

Now on to a story that was popular on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Snow in Florida! No kidding!

Snow fell in Florida in January of 2022 as a cold front made its way east. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office posted a video to its Facebook page showing snow falling from the sky in Lake Lorraine in the Florida Panhandle.

Viewers and followers were in awe because it so rarely snows in Florida! When the article was posted on Facebook, it reached more than 500,000 people.

‘I see his execution in my mind over and over’: Family shares grief as Arbery’s killers sentenced to life

The breaking news when Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley sentenced Greg McMichael, his son, Travis McMichael, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan in the Glynn County Courthouse for their roles in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was one of the most watched Facebook Live videos of the year.

The video was viewed more than 3.3 million times and had more than 30,000 comments.

Former News4JAX anchor & reporter Corley Peel’s twin sister, who was battling lung cancer, passes away

The news that former News4JAX reporter Corley Peel’s twin sister — Chelsea Peel — had passed away from lung cancer tore us apart this year. Before her passing, she had driven all the way to Jacksonville from Texas to surprise her sister on-air before Corley left News4JAX to spend more time with her.

Corley said that her sister had been going through treatments for the past couple of years and that the diagnosis was a shock to her family because she had never smoked and the cause was unknown.

We will forever remember Chelsea Peel as amazing, strong, fiercely independent, smart and funny.

Sympathy poured in from thousands on all platforms, with viewers and followers sending messages of love and support for Corley.

Kimberly Kessler sentenced to life in prison

With nearly 4 million views on YouTube — Kimberly Kessler being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the murder of her hair salon co-worker, Joleen Cummings, was one of the most viewed videos on the News4JAX account.

One YouTube comment — which received 17,000 likes — said: “The fact that the sheriff said that they will have cake and ice cream to celebrate her conviction really says how awful this crime was.”

There were hundreds of other stories that received thousands of views, likes and comments — those above were just the biggest social stories of the year.

Some honorable mentions include: ‘As easy as 1-2-3′: Social media trend encourages people to steal Kia, Hyundai cars using USB cables | Margaritaville at Sea offers free cruises for active/veteran military, first responders, law enforcement officers & teachers | Video: Florida teens break in to $8M home, throw party, post evidence on social media

2022 News4JAX social media analytics

According to Social News Desk analytics, News4JAX reached more than 395 million people and had more than 14 million video views, 31 million clicks, and 623,000 shares on Facebook.

On YouTube, the News4JAX channel received 89.8 million views in the last 365 days. People watched News4JAX content for 2.6 million hours, and we gained more than 82,000 subscribers.

On Twitter, News4JAX had 373,000 link clicks, 241,000 video views and 19,800 retweets, according to Social News Desk analytics.

On Instagram, News4JAX had more than 25 million video views (not counting crossposted views from Facebook), more than 5 million likes and more than 153,000 article clicks within our NewsIn.Bio link.

On TikTok, News4JAX received more than 10 million video views, and now has more than 1.4 million likes on all videos.