The death of Henry Allingham led to internet users setting up special groups in his honour.
By lunchtime on Saturday Mr Allingham was the sixth most talked about phrase on the social networking site Twitter.
A flood of tributes put the 113-year-old in the top news category, known as “trending topics”.
Hundreds of people wrote tributes to him and 10 Downing Street posted a message saying: “The PM has expressed his sadness at hearing of the passing of WW1 veteran Henry Allingham who he met several times.”
A total of 20 groups were set up in his memory on another social networking site, Facebook.
Alongside the remembrance groups were others specifically criticising the fact that Mr Allingham had not been honoured before his death.
One group was called “WW1 veteran Henry Allingham should be knighted” while “Give Henry Allingham a State Funeral”, called for a posthumous honour.
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