A trending topic or hashtag reflects a social media community’s interests, discussions, and collective attention at a given moment. Topics are often current events, popular culture and viral content, holidays, or online campaigns and challenges. They can also be localized to a specific location or context. Trending topics are highlighted by social networks like Twitter and Facebook to encourage discussion and engagement among their users.

The popularity of a topic can fluctuate rapidly, especially in the case of breaking news or controversial issues. Trends are influenced by many factors including timeliness and relevance, the number of people discussing a topic, and how long a topic remains in the top search results. In order to take advantage of a trending topic, brands should identify opportunities that align with their audience’s interests. For example, if your audience is passionate about animal rights, it may be worth creating a campaign to support the cause.

Google Trends allows you to see which topics are gaining traction in real time. The website analyzes the popularity of search terms based on geography and time of day, as well as other factors like how widespread an interest is and whether it’s rising or falling. A search term that’s trending is shown in a color-coded map. Trends are updated frequently, so you can monitor a topic as it develops or fades.

YouTube’s “Trending” section is a popular way for viewers to discover new videos. The algorithm behind the section takes several factors into consideration, including how quickly a video is gaining views and how much engagement it receives. View count plays a major role in the process, but YouTube also considers where the views are coming from (diversified vs. concentrated sources) and audience engagement metrics (likes, comments, and shares).

Videos that have high view counts are not necessarily trending, however, as the platform prioritizes videos with fast-growing view count. In addition, YouTube’s algorithm takes into account the type of video and how it aligns with the platform’s guidelines. For instance, videos containing hate speech or violent content are more likely to be removed from the list. The same goes for videos that are age-restricted or marked as mature.

While it’s possible for a brand to create its own trends, most trends are created by other people or organizations. The trending topics displayed on Twitter, for example, are tailored to the user based on their location, who they follow, and the content they like. While you can’t control what trending topics are displayed to your audience, you can take steps to boost the visibility of your content by using a unique hashtag and encouraging your followers to share it.

If you’re looking to promote a trending topic, Twitter offers the ability to purchase a promoted trend for 24 hours. However, it’s important to know that the trend will be seen by thousands of people, so you should plan ahead and create a clear call-to-action that makes sense for your business. Additionally, you should choose a hashtag that hasn’t been used by other businesses and avoid using misspellings or special characters.