The Real Reason Twitter Radically Reworked Its Trending Topics Algorithm

And thus a meme was born -- or reborn. (I'm not sure what it says about me that I think just like a Jonas Brother.) "Twitter is about what is happening right now, and we have recently updated our trending topics algorithm to reflect this. The new algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help people discover the 'most breaking' news stories from across the world ... We think that trending topics which capture the hottest emerging trends and topics of discussion on Twitter are the most interesting. While this is very much a work in progress, with this tweak we have taken a big step toward capturing how trends quickly emerge and grow on Twitter. We also think it's compelling to know what the 'most popular' topics are, and we will look to capture this in some way in the future." Twittter's posted explanation went on to claim that "It is important to note that this new algorithm does not 'block' any topics from trending" (emphasis Twitter's). But I looked at the raw hourly tweet data on Trendrr last weekend, and "Justin Bieber" was in fact surging dramatically on Twitter -- he was newly and urgently "immediately popular," which Twitter's new algorithm is supposed to gauge and represent. Explanations about the new algorithm aside, it's pretty clear that Twitter did not want "Justin Bieber" to show up as a trending topic -- even though he was massively topical precisely because of Twitter's move to effectively ban him. Justin Bieber fans, of course, freaked out. No matter how many times they tweeted things like "Let Justin Bieber trend!" the kid that People magazine recently dubbed the World's Biggest Pop Star just would not trend. Thus the fan workarounds -- which included not only "Bustin Jieber," but "Twieber." Sample tweet: "Twieber: because bieber owns twitter." Which is also scary and uncanny because back in March, in a column-from-the-future titled "The Most Influential Brands of 2090" (this was for the 80th anniversary issue of Advertising Age) my grandson, Simon Dumenco III, looked back at the year 2010, when Justin Bieber was "a staple on something called Twitter. ... By 2011, 78% of all Twitter messages (aka 'tweets,' or what we know today as 'biebs') were about Justin Bieber. By 2012, that number had climbed to 94% -- at which point Twitter, whose endemic advertisers had dwindled to basically just Tampax and Hot Topic, threw in the towel. Justin Bieber acquired Twitter in 2012 for $1 and the assumption of debt, then renamed it [Bieber]." I'm kicking myself -- or, rather, I'm kicking my unborn grandson -- for not thinking to call the Bieber-owned Twitter Twieber. By the way, fans of the pop star have now started up both Twieber.com ("Find out what's being said on Twitter and Twieber about Justin Bieber") and Twieber.Shoutem.com ("So basically, this is Twitter for Beliebers: Twieber?! This website is for Justin Bieber fans ONLY!"). The big question: Why would Twitter choose to alienate so many of its most passionate, active users -- who happen to be fans of the World's Biggest Pop Star? Simple: Every hour and every day that the likes of Justin Bieber trend, the more Twitter seems to be (in the eyes of grown-up marketers) an inane playground for hormonally cracked-out tweens. And if that becomes Twitter's brand image, well, remember my, um, grandson's joke about "Twitter's advertisers dwindling to just Tampax and Hot Topic"? As it happens, though, the smart folks at What the Trend monitor and consolidate all sorts of variations on trending topics, so despite Twitter's effective ban on the term "Justin Bieber" as a trending topic, thanks to various subtrends started up by his fans to bypass the ban, Mr. Bieber still managed to capture the No. 2 spot on our chart this week. Power to the Tweeple! Or Beeple. Or something. Meanwhile, if you're curious about how a previously unknown boy from Oklahoma became one of the biggest entertainment brands -- or brands of any sort -- on Twitter this week, read this: Greyson Chance, 12-year-old YouTube and Twitter Superstar: How He Really Happened. FYI: Other brands that loomed large on Twitter this week but didn't crack our Top 10: Google (thanks largely to the launch of Google TV), the London 2012 Olympics (thanks to the introduction of its ridiculously awful mascots), HTC (thanks to the launch of the HTC Wildfire smartphone), and -- somewhat oddly -- Ian Curtis, the frontman of legendary punk band Joy Division, on the 30th anniversary of his suicide (May 18, 1980). (What the Trend Pro, the service I use to create this charticle, offers an in-depth look at hundreds of trends each week.) How is this chart made? See Notes, below. 1. WTT tracks the appearance of topics on the Twitter Trending Topics list and each week ranks the brands (broadly defined to include marketers, products and celebrity/entertainment brands) with the most cumulative staying power. Explanations of trends are solicited from WTT users, Wikipedia-style; a community-voting system is designed to highlight the best explanations while burying lame or prank explanations. 2. For the purposes of this chart, we collect and process data until 12 midnight EST on Thursday night before each Friday's publication. 3. We broadly define "brands" to include major marketers (e.g., Apple) and branded products (e.g., iPad), as well as celebrity and entertainment brands (e.g., Lady GaGa, American Idol). Ad Age works with WTT to consolidate multiple threads of brand chatter (e.g., Apple, iPad, iTampon, Apple Tablet) into one position on the chart when it's clear related Twitter conversations are basically all about the same topic, even if they use different keywords. 4. In WTT's proprietary trend-tracking system, points are awarded for both duration and rank in the top 10 trending topics on Twitter. The longer the duration, and the higher the overall rank, the more points are awarded. Measurements are taken in five-minute increments. 5. The crowdsourced trend explanations above are quoted as they appear on WTT, and therefore may have stylistic and grammatical quirks that don't adhere to normal Ad Age editorial standards. For more information about What the Trend, visit the WTT FAQ. And check out WTT's Week in Review, compiled by its in-house editors and covering an expanded general list of Top 20 trends (including hashtag trends) here. Simon Dumenco is the "Media Guy" media columnist for Advertising Age. You can follow him on Twitter @simondumenco.

The Real Reason Twitter Radically Reworked Its Trending Topics Algorithm

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