Twitter trending topics

Autogenerated spam based on list of trending topics.

An anatomy of hashtag meme relevance over time.

(based on observation)

(By the way, I'm @megpickard on Twitter. I've been studying and writing about the anthropology of internet interaction since the mid-90s, I've been blogging since early 2000 and these days I look after social media for The Guardian.)

meish.org/2009/05/17/twitter-trending-analysis/

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Comments

sevitzdotcom says:

very accurate. And brilliant.

You always have a second career waiting for you in infographics.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

gwire says:

There's a variation on this for UK specific topics where most of the traffic is (presumably) Americans asking what the topic actually is. e.g. Every Wednesday afternoon Twitter will be full of people asking "What does PMQs stand for?".
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

blech says:

There are a few automated accounts that try to get definitions of trending topics (which can actually be handy, when it's nonsense like a SharePoint conference).
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

jjfitzpatty says:

very solid intel. Had no idea there was so much irrelevant meta-discussion.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

sylvanwye says:

Very enlightening.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

fraser donachie says:

... omg - I've reached my own meta-summit ...
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Martin Burns says:

@blech examples of those automated accounts?
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

n2teaching says:

Yes, this data reinforces the notion that people talk most about a topic of interest. Thanks!
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

controltheweb says:

Great work!! You might consider putting your (public) @MegPickard username in the description (I'm @Twitter_Tips.)
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

blech says:

Martin: thankfully Twitter are good at removing them, so I can't link to an example from the openhackday tag, which was about 10% spam last weekend. However, I can point at other people who've noticed the same as circumstantial evidence.

Maybe it was just #openhacklondon, though?
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

sethoscope says:

It would be interesting to make a graph using actual data (which some of the commenters here seem to think you've already done).
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Meg Pickard says:

You're right - and which is absolutely not the case, as I clearly state in the description above.

When I first posted this to Twitter I used the hashtag #fauxiology

Funny how that seems to have become detached as it's retweeted.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

brianjesse says:

stylin
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

iaaphoto says:

I'm a sucker for snide infographics

I'm not sure AI tech is at the level needed to be able to tell the difference between metadickery and regular idiocy on twitter, but if you took the time to actually do a broad study and hand sort the data, it would be pretty interesting to hear about the results. I'm not sure how scientific such a study could be, but I'm sure you could get a mostly anecdotal/selected evidence based anthropology paper about it. If you ever do anything along those lines, I hope you'll post something about it on your blog.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

jby1982 says:

Second the call for actual data. Isn't anyone actually tracking trending topics? It's hard to believe Twitter would just let that information float off into the ether.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

syIys says:

Interesting,
though,
if "talking about talking about #topic" is deemed irrevelant,
how can "talking about talking about talking about #topic" -- which is what you're doing here -- be any more revelant ? ; )
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Meg Pickard says:

Sylys - perhaps the difference is I'm doing it here (and not on Twitter)?
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Davezilla was taken says:

Hilarious, Meg.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Surf boy says:

Nice graph, what kind of data is this based on? Would love to see the original research for my twitter eco system blog: 2above.com
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

lauralovesart says:

too funny...and too true! :)
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

StoryCharms says:

Love this. I logged in to Flickr especially to comment. You understand the relevance of that better than most ;)
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

bindermichi says:

soo funny, and sadly sooo true :D
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

ShutterSparks says:

Hilarious and very true. But it's not unique to Twitter, it reflects the way that any population of humans deals with new information--breaking news, the spread of rumors, etc.

Great graphic. Faved. ;-)
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

eustace scrubb says:

Gee, thanks to you people are talking about people talking about the topics people are talking about. Uuurgh.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

lewisshepherd says:

Great graph. I especially like the comments from those who keep asking for the real data. I'm going to chart those comments; they appear to continue climbing even as you reinforce the fauxiologic point. :)
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

cosmocatalano says:

Why the hell did you make this a JPG? Are you high?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphi cs
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

Meg Pickard says:

Cosmo: FYI, I made it a PNG and uploaded it as a PNG but Flickr automatically makes everything into a JPG when uploaded.

I'll be happy to send you the PNG if you
A) provide an email address and
B) apologise for being a presumptuous ass.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

calvin tang says:

This is great.
Posted 7 months ago. ( permalink )

gearedtospeed says:

Amusing but true.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

emjacobi says:

Awesome.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Prabhat Khare says:

Nice and interesting one!

TechacK : Latest Tech News & Tips n tricks
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

Tippingpoint Labs says:

This is really an insightful post! Wonderful conceptualization of the challenges monitoring and participating in a trending topic.

I'm an admin for a group called Social Media Charts & Graphs, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

cosmocatalano says:

I apologize for being a presumptuous ass.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

alxflickrrr says:

Good information , thanks :)
Posted 5 weeks ago. ( permalink )

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Twitter trending topics

Comments

sevitzdotcom says:

gwire says:

blech​ says:

jjfitzpatty says:

sylvanwye says:

fraser donachie says:

Martin Burns says:

n2teaching says:

controltheweb says:

blech​ says:

sethoscope says:

Meg Pickard says:

brianjesse says:

iaaphoto says:

jby1982 says:

syIys says:

Meg Pickard says:

Davezilla was taken says:

Surf boy says:

lauralovesart says:

StoryCharms says:

bindermichi says:

ShutterSparks says:

eustace scrubb says:

lewisshepherd says:

cosmocatalano says:

Meg Pickard says:

calvin tang says:

gearedtospeed says:

emjacobi says:

Prabhat Khare says:

Tippingpoint Labs says:

cosmocatalano says:

alxflickrrr says:

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blech says:

blech says: