Twitter, recognizable by its famous blue icon of a bird, is the perfect place to share short pieces of information and see what everyone on the app is talking about. Those moments where everyone seems to be talking about the same thing are better known as trending topics, which allow users to go on the app and see what are the most important events, issues or hashtags of the day.
However, the trending topics on Twitter might just be the worst and best thing about the app. Sure, it is easy to go on Twitter to get your news for the day. But, on the other hand, the rate at which information flows, and the way it is distributed to users causes important issues to not seem important.
If you go on Twitter and see that #BREXIT is trending at the number one spot and right below see #OITNB is trending as well, a question or two might be raised. You might wonder is a show about a women’s prison just as important as a country — in real life — exiting the EU, which could potentially affect global markets?
Having serious real life issues and pop culture topics appear on the same list of trending topics takes away from the authenticity of more serious issues. I’m not trying to say TV shows or award shows, such as the Grammy’s, are un-important, but maybe separating entertainment news from hard-hitting news would be a good compromise.
In the past months, I noticed #Aleppo trending a few times. Seeing everyone on Twitter saying how they felt for the people in Syria and how the death needs to stop was endearing. It felt that many people genuinely cared. However, that was short lived, and once it wasn’t trending anymore the conversations slowed down and all the sympathizers disappeared.
What was going on in Aleppo then didn’t cease and humans are still losing their lives —the issue is ongoing. After being reduced to a mere hashtag it made the ongoing issues in Aleppo easy to forget as if it were a craze just like #RIPHARAMBE.
Once something is trending on Twitter or any other social medium it allows for people to talk and discuss their opinions. Eventually it turns out to be just that—talk.
Possibly, social media users would be more aware and show more sympathy if real life events weren’t placed in the same ranking as entertainment news. It is great to know that Game of Thrones is trending on a Sunday, but it is hard for people to take something seriously if they are more concerned with Westeros and who their favorite character is.
In the future I think it would be interesting to see Twitter do two things. One would be to separate entertainment news from real, hard-hitting news. I think separating the two would give an accurate representation of the severity of issues without taking away from either category. People would be able to know what show or celebrity is trending and still be in tune with serious global and national occurrences.
Secondly, it would be interesting for Twitter to do trending topic updates. The updates would allow coverage on issues past the initial peak surrounding the topic. Therefore, when something important happens people don’t forget about it because it’s no longer trending.
Living in a digital age doesn’t mean that as people we have to operate like robots. If something isn’t trending, or was and lost traction, the fact remains the issue may still be relevant and as humans it is important to remember.
fieldsbj14@bonaventure.edu
