Before you get your hashtag or topic trending on Twitter, read this article to understand how the platform decides on Twitter trending hashtags.
Ever wondered what decides the Twitter trending hashtags worldwide? A lot of people wake up and check their social media to see what is trending. Trending topics on Twitter help us to see what is happening around us and the world. You can even get breaking news on Twitter. However, most people do not know how twitter decides what is trending.
Why you should care about what is trending on Twitter
When you know what is trending on Twitter, you can jump into the conversation strategically. This will help you become visible to a lot of people who perhaps would not normally see your posts on social media. This is crucial when your hashtag talks about something interesting and has a call to action.
Here is how Twitter determines trends
Twitter determines what is trending by favoring topics with sharp spikes rather than those with gradual sustained growth. Trends on Twitter are determined by a combination of how much time it takes to create large volumes of engagement. Two-hour growth will likely trend while 30 days growth will not trend. Volumes are not the only determinants of what trends on Twitter. A hashtag can be used by a lot of people but from different places. For example, a hashtag used by five thousand people across the world might not trend while a hashtag used by one thousand people in a particular city will trend in that city. So if you want to have your Twitter tending hashtags trend in your city, try to have as many people using the same hashtag as possible but within a small area.
Things to keep in mind when looking at Twitter trends
Trending Twitter hashtags are subject to potential misspellings. When there are a lot of misspellings, the volume for a particular hashtag will split and this will affect whether or not a topic trends and for how long. Also, it is important to remember that what trends for you does not automatically trend for someone sitting next to you. Most users on Twitter only see trends tailored to them via who they follow and location. You can’t see what is trending in another city unless you change your location in the settings to match the desired city. You can also toggle your trending preferences on Twitter from tailored to you to tailored to your city. You can change the city to see which conversations dominate in different localities.
How to get your topic trending on Twitter
You can start by using built-in audiences. Existing audiences can be on another platform such as Facebook. You can talk to them and tell them to go on Twitter and mention you in their tweets alongside the hashtag you want top trend.
It is hard to have Twitter trending hashtags worldwide but you can have your hashtag trending in your locality. Make sure you do proper timing to avoid your hashtag competing against something that is more popular than what you are promoting. Once people start using your hashtags, engage them to keep the conversation going.
