Miley Cyrus sends MTV’s Video Music Awards to top Twitter ranking

MTV certainly knows how to provoke a social media stir. Sunday night’s 2013 Video Music Awards, with Lady Gaga’s quick-change performance, ‘N Sync’s flash-reunion and Miley Cyrus’ cringe-inducing appearance, generated 18.5-million tweets, according to Nielsen’s SocialGuide.

That was by far the most tweeted-about telecast of the week ended Aug. 25, about 28 times more than its nearest competition. The two runners-up in the Twitter activity rankings were also MTV shows: Last Monday’s episode of “Teen Wolf” with 662,300 tweets and the “2013 VMA Pre-Show” with 467,200.

MTV had four of the 10 most tweeted about shows for the week. The fourth was “Catfish: The TV Show” at No. 7, behind AMC’s “Breaking Bad.”

PHOTOS: MTV Video Music Awards | Show Highlights

Also causing some commotion was Friday’s “Today” show, which featured a performance by the teen pop group One Direction.

For the VMAs, the Twitter deluge was not necessarily positive, particularly for Cyrus, who performed “We Can’t Stop” and was joined by Robin Thicke for a rendition of “Blurred Lines.” She danced with a foam finger, twerked with giant teddy bears and stripped to her underwear.

That drew plenty of ire from viewers, fellow celebrities and media outlets. MTV said Monday that the performance drew some 306,000 tweets per minute.

PHOTOS: MTV Video Music Awards | Arrivals

Here are the week’s rankings:

1. “2013 MTV Video Music Awards” (MTV), Sunday, 18.49 million tweets.

2. “Teen Wolf” (MTV), Monday, 662,300 tweets.

3. “2013 VMA Pre-Show” (MTV), Sunday, 467,200 tweets.

4. “Pretty Little Liars” (ABC Family), Tuesday, 368,000 tweets.

5. “WWE Monday Night RAW” (USA), Monday, 241,200 tweets.

6. “Breaking Bad” (AMC), Sunday, 235,100 tweets.

7. “Catfish: The TV Show” (MTV), Sunday, 213,100 tweets.

8. “Today” (NBC), Friday, 186,500 tweets.

9. “Big Brother” (CBS), Thursday, 162,800 tweets.

10. “Basketball Wives” (VH1), Monday, 128,900

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ryan.faughnder@latimes.com