What Is Trending and Why Do We Trend?

What Is Trending?

Twitter mathematically identifies topics that are popular currently, it helps people discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter that matter most in real time. There are approximately 10,000 tweets per second on Twitter.  Twitter Trends are automatically generated by an algorithm that attempts to identify topics that are being talked about more “now” than they were previously.

The Trends list is designed to help people discover the “most breaking” news from across the world (or a specific geographic area), in real-time. The Trends list captures the hottest emerging topics.

A trend happens when a hashtag or topic has been used in conversations (tweets) the most number of times from many different Twitter accounts.

Twitter mathematically detects when a topic or hashtag is trending.  A twitter trend event is a big conversation on the same subject. The conversation must seem spontaneous and not planned. This is why we don’t use the hashtag in tweets before the planned event. We communicate the event information and hashtag through memes.

Our objective is to make a splash on Twitter. There must be a dramatic increase in the use of the hashtag. This needs to be sustained over the time period of the event.  If you are only able to tweet two or three tweets with the established hashtag, you will have helped the Outlander community to trend the topic. A FEW tweets from MANY Twitter accounts MAY be enough to achieve a Trending topic.

Why Do We Trend?

A trending topic does not just signify popularity. It is also translates to a win for whoever is the subject of the trend.

For example, if an Outlander topic trends, it may give Sony leverage allowing them to command a higher price for the distribution of the show. For Starz, it would hopefully attract more subscribers.

From the New York Times, “Hollywood industry insiders are trying to tap into what people are talking about online and to stoke the chatter for the benefit of sales.”  Interesting one-time hashtags can sometimes support the chance for a marketing message (e.g., The Emmys, The People’s Choice Awards, Season Two Premiere of Outlander, etc.).

A trending topic brings attention to Outlander and hopefully generates interest in the show, increases viewership, and secures more seasons!