Twitter Trends are no longer what you want it to be. (UPDATE)
After the latest change in Twitter, you may or may not have noticed that the trend feed is a bit different as in “WTF is this shit even in my results?”
I keep mine in Venezuela as to check the latest down there, but for the last several days although it is still set for it, I am getting results I know do not fit with what usually comes out from down there:
I doubt pretty much anybody down there cares about the shooting at Pearl Harbor, knows what Fake Outrage is (language and all) and could not give to craps about Pelosi.
I went ahead and checked other countries’ trends and according to Twitter, the whole planet is pretty much talking about the same thing:
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.
Bolds are mine. Help me? I am always suspicious when my information feed is being “helped” by people I do not know and the outcome is the disappearance of such information.
You can choose to see trends that are not tailored for you by selecting a specific trends location on twitter.com, iOS, or Android (instructions below). Location trends identify popular topics among people in a specific geographic location.
Well little one, that ain’t happening, is it? I am sure that the connotation of “ass” in three of the four countries above is not an expression of disbelief but a pack animal and very likely not the top five of their Twitter discussions. Now I cannot even believe what is being shown “trending” in my particular location is truthful because as much as I may like Egypt and its history, I doubt Miami and El Cairo have the same similar concerns this morning.
But no, we are not being informational manipulated for upcoming elections. Trust Without Verify.
UPDATE: I sent a notification to @TwitterHelp and my trends are back to normal. I guess somebody forgot to flip a switch after the last update. I can no keep track of the triumph of Socialism in Venezuela over the evil US Empire…or crap like that.