Facebook Says 'Trending' Topics Feature Gets 3 Improvements Based on User Feedback

Facebook's "Trending" topics feature will get three new updates, including a publisher headline about that topic, a better system that identifies the topic is trending, and the ability of everyone in a region to see the same topics, wrote Will Cathcart, vice president-product management, in a Wednesday blog post. The Trending topics feature was criticized last year for supposed bias, censorship and fake news (see 1605120058 and 1610140054). Adding a headline from a publisher's article about the topic -- the most requested improvement from users -- will give readers more context on what's trending on the social media site, he wrote. "The headline that appears is automatically selected based on a combination of factors including the engagement around the article on Facebook, the engagement around the publisher overall, and whether other articles are linking to it." The new system that identifies trending topics will be based on the number of publishers posting articles on the site with the same topic rather than around a single post or article, he said. This should present a broader range of news and events and reflect real world events, he added. Plus, "Facebook will no longer be personalized based on someone’s interests." Instead, everyone in the same region will be able to view the same topics so people don't miss out on what's being discussed, Cathcart said.