Social Media Trends 101
If you’re one of the 4.62 billion people on social media then you may have heard the term “trending.” If you’re looking to take your social media up a notch, whether that’s because you’re an entrepreneur, an aspiring influencer, or just a casual user, you may be wondering what are social media trends, how do you find them, how do you use them, and more. Well, you’re in luck because today we’re giving you a “crash course” on the basics of social media trends.
What is a social media trend?
Before we dig into social media trends, we want to tell you exactly what they are - and it’s all in the wording! Like with fashion, beauty, and other trends, social media trends refers to what’s currently popular and, in this case, that means on social media. While there are often crossovers in terms of what’s popular and trending on any given social media platform, it can and does often differ from platform to platform. So, what’s trending on Twitter might be different than what’s trending on Tiktok, for example.
How to find social media trends and how to use them
As mentioned above, trends may be similar across platforms, so for example, a song that’s popular on TikTok may be popular on Instagram as well, a current example of this is Kate Bush’s single, “Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God),” which was trending on both platforms thanks to the massive popularity of Netflix’s Stranger Things. And sometimes, things will trend on TikTok and then become popular on Instagram a week later! But how do you find what’s trending? This will depend on what you’re looking for, so let’s take a look at the different types of trends, how to find them, and how to use them.
Trending audio/music (Instagram)
If you’re looking for trending audio for Instagram Reels content, visit the Reels explore page (it’s the centre icon) in the app. At the bottom of each Reels video, you will see the audio file name, the name of the creator of the audio, and either a music note icon or an upward arrow. The upward arrow indicates that the audio is currently trending. Manually scroll through Reels videos to find the trending audio you want to use. Then:
Tap the audio file name to see who else has used the audio – and how many times it has been used.
Either select “Use audio” if you have content that’s ready to post or you’re ready to create something OR save the audio if you want to revisit it later after you create your content.
You can follow accounts like this one which shares trending Reels sounds.
Tip: The trending audio files with less uses are more likely to be emerging trends that are gaining more momentum and popularity. Experiment with this type of trending audio before those with hundreds of thousands of uses. The number of people who have used the trending audio is smaller and therefore you might be more easily and frequently discovered.
Trending audio/music (TikTok)
If you want to find trending audio for your TikTok video, while in the create mode within the app, click “Add sound.” Once on the Sounds page, you will see sections to discover music, a favourites section, playlists, and more. To find trending audio:
Check out the Playlists section and tap “TikTok Viral” which will display some of the most popular sounds/music being used by TikTok users.
Choose whatever fits the content you’ve created or save the audio you want to use in the future to your favourites!
Trending Topics
Similar to other social media trends, trending topics may be similar across platforms but will also be platform specific as well so let’s take a look at a few ways to find these trending topics.
Twitter: Visit the Explore Page where you’ll find trending topics based on several categories including For You (based on your interests and Twitter’s algorithm), Trending (Country specific), COVID-19, News, Entertainment, and Sports.
Instagram and TikTok: Go to the Explore page (Instagram) or For You Page (TikTok) to find popular content that is relevant to your interests as well as the algorithms for each platform. You can also search hashtags to view how many times specific hashtags have been used.
Trending Memes
If you’re on social media, especially websites like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or even Reddit, you’ve probably seen people and even brands use memes. While there are memes that have been popular for a while, like woman yelling at cat, there are plenty of memes that become popular for a short period of time, like the one we saw of Bernie Sanders in his knitted mittens. We encourage you to have some fun and if you want to use a meme that’s been around for a bit, you can definitely take advantage of that longstanding popularity. Websites like Meme Generator allow you to utilize popular memes to create your own versions and many of the memes there continue to be used by social media users. You can browse their “Popular” tab to find user favourites ahead of creating your own. If you spend some time on social media, you’ll likely also come across viral trending memes that are newly popular as they often blow up and see wide usage.
Video Trends
If you spend some time scrolling through TikTok or Instagram you’ll begin to notice similar themes in audio and video and these will often be tied together, as in specific video trends will use certain trending audio. You can also use the Instagram search bar. For example, you could search “Reels trends” to find tutorials and more.
If you’re still not sure how to find what’s trending, Later Blog is a great resource that shares trending memes, top TikTok trends, Reels trends, and more.
This may seem like a lot to take in right now, but once you’ve become more familiarized with the social media platforms of your choice, you will be able to more easily identify and utilize trends so spend some times exploring and have fun. Tell us what your favourite social media trend has been of all time!