Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) seems to be copying Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) aggressively. After appropriating the microblogging company’s iconic Hashtags and enabling Embedded Posts, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has copied one more thing from Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), namely “trending topics.” The world’s largest social networking company announced today that it will soon introduce trending topics to users’ news feed soon.
Facebook’s new feature not available on mobile
Now more than 1.2 billion Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users can immediately see the topics trending across the globe, whether it’s the Oscars, polar vortex or death of a world leader. Trending topics will first be unveiled in the U.S., Canada, India, UK and Australia. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users can now see a list of trending topics on the right side of their news feed.
The Menlo Park-based company said that the feature won’t be available on smartphones and tablets, at least for now. The company is still testing the feature in its apps for mobile devices. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been working on the feature since August last year. However, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s trending topics will be slightly different from those of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). It will explain why a specific topic is trending, and will be tailored towards every user’s specific interests.
Facebook intrudes into Twitter’s territory
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) engineer Chris Stuhar said that the feature is aimed at uncovering the most interesting content on the website for users. It fits into the social networking giant’s broader effort to make the site every user’s personal newspaper. People already use the site to find out what their friends, relatives and colleagues are up to, and that’s a kind of news. And with this feature, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has extended the scope of news feed.
With trending topics, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)has made an attempt to intrude into Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s turf. People use Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) to know about events as they happen, whether it’s sports, economy, politics, war, or anything. But they may find Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) equally useful now in this aspect.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares rose 0.23% to $57.32 at 9:55 AM EST.
