A trend is a topic or hashtag that becomes popular on social media at a given moment. These topics are highlighted by Twitter and Facebook to encourage discussion and engagement among their users. Trends can be in a variety of areas and don’t necessarily reflect only fashion, pop culture and entertainment. A trend in the stock market, for example, can be bullish or bearish depending on economic indicators, and a political trend might reflect a nation’s mood. Some trends last a long time while others quickly die out.

In order to make something trend on Twitter, it must have a certain amount of volume, as well as a specific spike in that volume over the course of a day. This is largely determined by the number of tweets that mention a particular hashtag or keyword, as well as the number of retweets of those tweets. Twitter’s algorithms favor rapid spikes in popularity over sustained increases.

The algorithms that govern the ‘Trending’ section of Twitter and Facebook are constantly being tweaked to improve the accuracy of their results and how quickly they respond to new events and discussions. They also take into account factors such as location and personal interests of individual users, which is why some people can see different trends to other people on the same network.

Trending can be a useful tool for brands, influencers or individuals to leverage in their efforts to increase awareness, discuss a particular topic, get more people to their event or promote a product or service. It can also be used to highlight important news and events that may otherwise go unnoticed.

While some people have complained about YouTube’s decision to curate the ‘Trending’ section, others have argued that it is just doing its job. Whether or not you agree with this curation, it is an interesting look into how technology and social networks are evolving and responding to a changing world.

To make a hashtag or trend on Twitter, you need to have a unique hashtag and a call-to-action that is compelling enough to spark conversation. It’s also important to know your timing and never try to start a trend that will compete with something else big or highly publicized. For instance, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to attempt to go trending during the president’s State of the Union address.