A trending topic mirrors a social media community’s interests, discussions and collective attention at any given time. It can range from popular culture to current news, viral content or even online campaigns and challenges. Trending is a tool used by both the public and businesses to keep up with what’s popular at a specific moment in time.
Social media platforms like Twitter, TikTok and Instagram offer trends to help users find what other people are talking about in real-time. These topics are shown by the platform in a variety of ways, including the “Trending” area on their Explore pages or on the platform’s search page. In general, the trends are based on keywords or hashtags that have been talked about on the site in a particular period of time.
The trending topics are determined by algorithms created by the sites on which they appear. The algorithm takes into account the user’s location, their previous searches and likes and who they follow on the platform. This helps tailor the trends that each individual user sees to make sure they are relevant to them.
While this is great for personalization, it can also lead to misinformation and misunderstanding of what’s really going on in the world. This is especially true when it comes to trends about controversial political or religious topics or events.
Some trends are predictable and can be spotted by using tools to analyze the data on the Google Trends website. For example, if the search volume for a certain keyword is increasing over a number of years (by default, 10), it’s likely to remain popular for the long haul. The same can be said for recurring trends such as motivational hashtags or seasonal events.
Businesses can use the trends to inform their content strategy and create a plan for how they’ll incorporate the topic into their marketing efforts. This can be especially helpful for creating campaigns around events, holidays or new releases.
However, it’s important for businesses to be careful about the content they produce. Using irrelevant keywords or hashtags to gain visibility on trending topics can draw unwanted attention from the platform and may cause a brand’s reputation to suffer. Some platforms even have rules against this behavior and in extreme cases, can result in a site suspension.
YouTube is notorious for its Trending section, with executives recently saying that the site was especially careful about what videos make it to the list and ensures that there are no adult-themed or profanity-laden content. YouTube’s algorithm also has a high view count threshold to appear on the Trending page, which can be frustrating for creators who have worked hard to increase their reach.