Former US President Barack Obama can lay claim to having had an impressive year on Twitter - even eclipsing his more-prolific successor in the Oval Office.

The former President had the most-liked tweet of the year, according to Twitter, while Presiddent Donald Trump did not register in the top ten retweeted Twitter messages

Mr Obama’s topped the list for a tweet he sent in the aftermath of a Charlottesville, Virginia white supremacist rally descending into violence. That response offers a sharp contrast to the uproar after Mr Trump equated neo-Nazis with leftist protesters, suggesting both bore responsibility for the bloodshed.

The former President’s paean to diversity and denunciation of hatred earned spurred nearly 4.6 million people to click the small heart icon — the most of any tweet this year. It was also the second-most retweeted.

Also landing in the top-three most liked tweets of the year was Mr Obama’s message of support for Senator John McCain, a onetime political rival Mr Obama defeated in the 2008 election, after the Arizona Republican was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Two more of Mr Obama’s tweets were among the ten most shared of the year, and both of them came in the twilight of his time in office.

Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Show all 11 1 /11 Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama's best moments in the White House May 19, 2009 “The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office,” Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Oct. 26, 2012 President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House “A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carlton’s son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the President’s head to see if it felt the same as his.” Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House March 21, 2010 The President, Vice President and senior staff applaud after watching on television the House vote on H.R. 4872 for health care reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Dec. 3, 2009 President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Sept. 22, 2015 "The Obama family and Biden family greet Pope Francis as he arrives in the United States for the first time at Joint Base Andrews," Sept. 22, 2015. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 21, 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a "Let's Move!" video taping on the Colonnade of the White House, Feb. 21, 2014 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 18, 2016 President Barack Obama watches First Lady Michelle Obama dance with 106-Year-Old Virginia McLaurin in the Blue Room of the White House prior to a reception celebrating African American History Month, Feb. 18, 2016 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Jan. 21, 2013 "The President and First Lady wave to supporters as they ride in the inaugural parade. I had asked the President if I could ride in the presidential limousine and the President joked, 'But Michelle and I were planning to make out," Jan. 21, 2013. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at an Inaugural Ball, January 2009 all pics: Pete Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama rests his hand on the bible that President Lincoln used for his swear-in, being held by his wife Michelle Obama as he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America Rex

One urged Americans to embrace their ability to effect change, and the other — issued on the day of Mr Trump’s inauguration — said his time in office had been “the honor of my life”.

By contrast, Mr Trump did not have a tweet that was one of the top-ten most retweeted or liked of the year despite the volume of Twitter messages he issues, often in early-morning bursts, denouncing rivals or weighing in on policy issues and current events.

That’s not to say Mr Trump didn’t register in the minds of Twitter users. No world leader was tweeted about more.