FAQs about trends on Twitter

Where can I find trends?

Trends are available on the Twitter for iOS app, the Twitter for Android app, and twitter.com.

On Twitter's mobile apps, you can find trends listed under the trends section of the Explore tab When signed in to twitter.com on a desktop or laptop computer, trends are listed in many places, including the Home timeline, Notifications, search results, and profile pages.

How are trends determined?

Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow, your interests, and your location. This algorithm identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter.

Note: The number of Tweets that are related to the trends is just one of the factors the algorithm looks at when ranking and determining trends. Algorithmically, trends and hashtags are grouped together if they are related to the same topic. For instance, #MondayMotivation and #MotivationMonday may both be represented by #MondayMotivation.

You can choose to see trends that are not tailored for you by selecting a specific trends location on twitter.com, iOS, or Android. Location trends identify popular topics among people in a specific geographic location.

What does the # sign mean?

You may notice that some trends have # sign before the word or phrase. This is called a hashtag and is included specifically in Tweets to mark them as relating to a topic, so that people can follow the conversation in search.

Will I see world and local events in my trends?

Yes, when signed into your account on the twitter.com, iOS, or Android, trends will be tailored for you based on your location and who you follow. There will be many world and local news events and conversations that will appear in your trends regardless of your personalization.

Can I see trends for a specific location?

Yes, you can view trends for a specific location on twitter.com, iOS, or Android.

View trends via twitter.com:
To view trends for a specific location, click Change in your trends box. You can choose to Keep tailored trends based on your location and who you follow, or you can select Change to choose a nearby location or search locations.

Adjust your trends settings via Twitter for iOS:

In the top menu, tap your profile icon.
Tap Settings and privacy, then tap Content preferences.
Under Explore, tap Trends.
Drag the slider next to Trends for you to turn on and receive personalized trends.
When the feature is disabled, you can change your location by tapping Change location.

In the search box, type your desired trends location or choose from the list.

Adjust your trends settings via Twitter for Android:

In the top menu, you will either see a navigation menu icon or your profile icon. Tap whichever icon you have, and select Settings and privacy.
Tap Content preferences.
Under Explore, tap Trends.
Drag the slider next to Trends for you to turn on and receive personalized trends.
When the feature is disabled, you can change your location by tapping Change location.

In the search box, type your desired trends location or choose from the list.

Note: If you don't find your preferred country or city, it means we're not receiving enough Tweets from that geographical area to create a list. You can look up local Tweets on any topic by using advanced Twitter Search operators.

What happens when I click or tap on a trend?

Clicking or tapping any of the trends takes you to the Twitter search results for that trend. You'll see all Tweets including that phrase or hashtag. To see what people are saying about a previous trend, perform a search for that keyword.

How can I participate in a trend?

Simply post a Tweet including the exact word or phrase as it appears in the trends list (with the hashtag, if you see one). Due to the large number of people Tweeting about these specific trends, you may not always be able to find your particular Tweet in search, but your followers will always see your Tweets.

Note: Twitter also filters searches for quality. To understand what types of behavior could cause your Tweets to be filtered out, read about our search rules and restrictions.

Are there rules for trends?

We do not allow content in violation of the Twitter Rules to trend and we may block certain content from trending, even if it is ordinarily allowed on our platform. Examples include profanity, adult and/or graphic references, and potentially offensive content. Content that is allowed on our platform but not highlighted in our trends may still be accessible elsewhere on the platform. We may continue to highlight potentially offensive trends if the content is of political significance, or we see a variety of viewpoints expressed in the discussion.

Additionally, we have rules against gaming trends. The following behavior could result in enforcement actions:

Adding one or more topics and/or hashtags to an unrelated Tweet, or posting misleading links to a trend in an attempt to gain attention.
Repeatedly Tweeting the same topic and/or hashtag without adding value to the conversation in an attempt to get the topic trending or trending higher.
Tweeting about a trend in order to drive traffic to your profile or website, especially with regard to commercial content, products, or services.
Listing trends in order to fabricate content or acquire account engagement and/or follows.
The coordination of multiple accounts and the use of automation to fabricate trends.

Trends descriptions

Below some trends, you may see the approximate number of Tweets associated with the trend, or personalized context such as who in your network is Tweeting about it.

Additionally, when a Moment is found to be relevant to a trend, we may use the title of the Moment as the trend’s description.

Having trouble?

Check out our troubleshooting section for solutions to common problems.