Facebook’s latest ‘trend’

Aug 11, 2013 - Mohammed waseem

It doesn’t look like Facebook is going to stop adapting most, if not all, of Twitter’s trademark features into its own website anytime soon. Just two months after Facebook introduced hashtags — a feature made immensely popular by Twitter — the social network is now testing another popular Twitter feature: trending topics.

News website AllThingsD had earlier reported that the social media giant had started experimenting with trending topics — a billboard that highlights things that lots of Facebook users are talking about — in a move to make users spend more time on Facebook, talking about things in the news, or stuff that one sees on TV.
Facebook however has not lifted the entire feature as is from Twitter. In Facebook’s version, users will see a banner flagging a particular topic. When users click on it, they’ll see what their friends are talking about it, and then they’ll be able to view comments and posts from people they are not friends with on Facebook.
Currently, it is available only to a to a small percentage of Facebook mobile web site users in the U.S. and is still in very early stages of development, although the company in all probability will soon make it a worldwide feature available not just on mobiles but on all mediums as well.
Facebook has never been one to shy away from being open about what’s happening on its site and true to their nature, they announced last month that its users have been discussing much more topics on TV shows and programmes than Twitter’s.
Some of Facebook’s long list of borrowed features from Twitter over the years include verified accounts, “@” mentions and the option to follow influencers. With the recent introduction of hashtags and trending topics, Facebook leaves no space for doubt that its trying to make the website a place for increased real-time discussions, drawing in more crowd by the minute and thereby more ad revenue!

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