Can You Guess Which Fast Food Chain Is Most Beloved By Social Media Users?

Our interest in all-things Taco Bell, from its food to its clothing line, is well documented. However, thanks to the social analytics company, NetBase, we now know we're not the only ones who have a fiery passion for the chain. In the company's 2017 Restaurant Brands Report, which we found through Food & Wine, Taco Bell was named this year's Top Performing Restaurant Brand on Social Media, which, when you consider how much millennial love to post about food, is high praise.

To figure out which restaurant brand was the most beloved by social media users, NetBase examined 187 billion social media mentions, and although McDonald's was mentioned the most, Taco Bell's mentions performed the best. According to NetBase, the other top five performing restaurant brands were Chick-fil-A, Domino's, Olive Garden, and Wendy's. Still, with it's over 8 million mentions, Taco Bell out-performed them all, and it's not just because it has one of the most Instagram-worthy store locations of any chain — although that probably didn't hurt.

When you think about it, it actually isn't all that surprising that Taco Bell took home the Top Performing Restaurant Brand on Social Media title since it seems like we're constantly seeing posts about the chain going viral. In part, that's thanks to the Taco Bell's out-there menu items like the Naked Egg Taco or the Firecracker Burrito. TBell's new offerings are often so unexpected that you can't help but share you thoughts, bad or good.

Another fact that most likely contributed to Taco Bell earning first place in the performance catagory of NetBase's annual report is that this chain has some extremely loyal customers. People feel so strongly about Taco Bell that more than one high schoolers have posed for senior portraits in the restaurant and couples are even getting married inside a Taco Bell chapel now. Customers like that are obviously going to share passionate posts about the brand on social media, and we don't know about you, but we're always tempted to click on them.