Facebookâs Trending
section gets updated, will also show on Android app
Last year, Facebook
introduced a Trending section, which would show the latest trending topics on
the site (similar to what Twitter already offered with its trending hashtags).
The feature, which is visible on the right-hand side of Facebookâs News Feed, has
been updated to include new sections and will be available to US users on the
web and on the Android app as well. Facebook will roll out the updated web
version of Trending to other countries soon as well bring the feature to the
iOS app.
According to a blog post on
Facebookâs newsroom, when users click on a topic in Trending, they will see the
conversation divided into five sections. The various sections are:
1 Articles: This
will show news publishers have covered a particular story.
2 In the
Story: This section will highlight posts from people who are part of
the story. Say a story is about a cricket team or a football team, this section
will show an update from their official page.
3 Friends and
Groups: This will reveal what people in a userâs network are saying
about a particular trending story. Say a letter or post has gone viral, and if
youâre friends are sharing the link, youâll be able to see their posts, along
with their thoughts on that particular trending topic.
4 Near the
Scene: This will showcase posts from people who are at the place
where the story is unfolding. For example, if there are protests in a
particular part of the city and if people are posting pictures, etc from the
place, then it will show under this section.
5 Live Feed:
This will show users a real-time stream of reactions from people around
the world to a particular story. All posts around a topic that are made under
the public settings will be visible in this section.
The updates in the
Facebookâs Trending section are an attempt to ensure a cleaner flow and to make
it easier for users to find the relevant content around a particular topic.
Also by focusing on real-time content, reactions, and live posts from the scene
of the action, Facebook is targeting rival Twitter, which still holds the top
spot when it comes to real-time updates, instant reactions, etc.
Given that the Android
app will see this update, Facebook has made sure that this feature is coming to
the mobile OS that is clearly the most used in the world right now. While the
feature is US-only for now, it will roll-out to other countries and iOS soon.