21 Jan Trending on Facebook: Facebook Wants Users to Care but should Brands?
Facebook recently started to roll-out its version of a “trending” feature, similar to what we all know and love on Twitter. The difference? Unlike Twitter’s focus on hashtags and its ability to filter by location and interests, Facebook looks at what’s being discussed at a high volume, and then decides what to show you based on what they think you’re interested in. With the amount of diaper ads Facebook throws my way, I’m not entirely sure they’ve figured out the interests of its users just yet.
Is Facebook Trending Different Than Twitter Trends? Not Really.
As with any new feature or platform, my initial thought as a Community Manger is how – and if – my brand can leverage the new feature as we create content. Twitter’s Trends area is often filled with celebrities, events, public figures, movie and show premiers and the occasional sports team. All things, as a brand, we legally have no right to add within the copy of our social posts. As of now, this seems to be what Facebook is offering up, too.
The one advantage Twitter seems to hold for brands – many times a trending hashtag comes out of a normal conversation. While I can’t insert my brand into the discussion surrounding Michelle Obama, I CAN jump in on a conversation about #HappyFriday – and many other brands did just that.
Community Managers and Facebook Trending
While Facebook’s trending feature will help us, as personal users, determine what larger topics of discussion we’d be interested, it won’t give us a great grasp on what, as community mangers, our Fans want to see. Will this feature start to slowly go the way of Facebook hashtags? Without an adjustment, my guess is yes. (My bad if you’re one of the few still excited to include that hashtag in your Facebook post.)
