A trending topic is one that’s getting a lot of attention on social media. It’s the result of algorithms used by platforms like Twitter and Facebook that analyze user activity to determine what people are talking about at a given moment, which topics are generating the most mentions and engagement, and which keywords are currently being searched for.

Trends can be about anything, from current events or news stories to popular culture or celebrity gossip. There are many different factors that can contribute to a topic becoming trending, but some of the most important ones are relevance and virality. Trends that are timely and relevant to the interests of a large audience are more likely to generate engagement, which in turn will make them more likely to stay on the trending list. Viral content is also more likely to become a trending topic, as it spreads rapidly among users and quickly gains visibility. Controversial topics can also spark a lot of interest and engagement, particularly when they cause debates or discussions among viewers. Influencers can also have a significant impact on the trends that appear on their followers’ feeds. Trends can also be determined by geographic location, with certain hashtags and topics being more popular in some areas than others.

The trending feature on YouTube is a great way to discover new videos that are getting a lot of traction. The algorithm that selects which videos will appear on the trending page takes into account a variety of criteria, such as viewer engagement and channel growth. However, the algorithm isn’t always accurate in its predictions and there are ways to game the system. For example, some videos have topped the trending page because they’re covers of popular songs with a young girl on the cover, but the fact that these videos are covers shouldn’t necessarily have an impact on their popularity.

In order to boost your chances of being featured on the trending page, you should try to create a unique hashtag that’s not already in use. This will allow you to see an immediate spike in usage and indicate to the platform that this is a trend worth featuring. In addition, you should encourage people to post on your own account using the hashtag and include it in your call-to-action, so that you have a larger volume of posts that can be analyzed for trends.

While it’s not recommended to try to manipulate the trending features on social media, businesses can benefit from being a part of a current trend. When a business can successfully capitalize on a trend, they’ll be exposed to a wide audience of potential customers. However, businesses should make sure they’re not posting unrelated content to the trend, as this can draw ire from the platform and lead to an account suspension.

While there are some reports of human curation of the trends, it’s mostly algorithmic. For example, the trending tab on YouTube is based on viewer engagement and channel growth data. Other tools that offer a similar feature, such as Buzzsumo and Awario, curate their trends lists by category and also provide data on how the trends are growing over time. This type of data is valuable because it provides insight into what’s working for other marketers.