Facebook testing Twitter-like Trending Topics column

If you needed any more proof that Facebook seems to be drawing inspiration from arch-rival Twitter, here it is. The social networking giant seems to be testing

Nishtha Kanal|Sep 02, 2013, 08:35:28 IST

If you needed any more proof that Facebook seems to be drawing inspiration from arch-rival Twitter, here it is. The social networking giant seems to be testing a Trending Topic section on the News Feed of some users.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, this Trending Topic column is appearing on the top-right hand side of the Facebook News Feed. Like the name suggests, and like people are used to seeing it on Twitter, the Trending Topic column will show various keywords that people seem to be mentioning in their posts on Facebook.

Needless to say, hashtags, that Facebook controversially introduced in June, will be the base off which these Trending Topics will be skimmed and displayed. The more people mention a particular topic or hashtag, the higher the chances of it being displayed in this column.

Twitter-like column

Facebook has been displaying a covert version of these Trending Topics to a much wider base of users. If you scroll down your News Feed now, you may find a post by a friend or someone you follow regarding a topic much in news right now. The post will be accompanied by a tag from Facebook that will indicate that there have been over a few hundred posts about this particular topic. For example, if a huge number of people are talking about Syria, Facebook will show you a post by a friend or a page you follow and say, “Syria. 1,000 recent posts about this.”

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While this serves to let people know what is being talked about on the social networking website, it goes largely unnoticed. Here’s where the Trending Topics column could come in handy as it will clearly demarcate a separate section dedicated just to let you know what’s being spoken about. Clicking on the topic will also open a page where you can check out public posts about it.

The test, however, does not mean that this feature will see the light of day as a wider rollout. This could simply be one of the tests Facebook conducts secretly and never releases. It will be a nice touch with Facebook’s hashtag feature, although Facebook would want to make it look a little less Twitter-like.

By Nishtha Kanal

Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs.