I saw the “trending” feature on
Facebook a few days before it was brought up in class, but I did not look too
much into it because it seems like Facebook is always adding new features and I
just don’t have the time or desire to keep up with all of them.
People have been saying that
Facebook “stole” the trending feature from Twitter. In my opinion, they aren’t all
that similar. Twitter’s trending feature seems to be solely based on what users
are tweeting and hashtagging, while the Facebook trending feature just reports
popular news that is going on. It might be based on what people are talking
about, but when you click on one of the trends, it takes you to articles about
the topic. That leads me to believe that the Facebook trends are not what
Facebook users are talking about exactly, but simply what it popular news at
the time.
In the van Dijck chapter, it says
that Facebook is based on the idea of people connecting with other people and sharing
things with their friends. With that in mind, it makes sense that Facebook
executives would add the trending feature to the site because it is yet another
way that Facebook users can find and share information with their friends. It
perpetuates the feeling of connectedness that Facebook seems bent on providing
for the world.
As far as why Facebook stole the
idea from Twitter, I think they saw an opportunity to expand on a feature that
Twitter has had for a long time, but that not many users utilize. As a Twitter
user, I hardly ever check to see what is trending. Facebook has improved the
trending feature by tailoring the trends based on what the user is interested
in. I have yet to see how this is done, since my trends were the exact same ones
brought up in class, but it may prove to work over time.
This trending feature is just yet
another way that Facebook is attempting to create a massive, interconnected
society that shares information, whether it’s about themselves or the world
around them.
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