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Is this the end of terrible trending topics on Twitter?

Twitter's trending topics are now being personalized based on users' locations and who they follow, the company announced today.  

 

David Holmes

Internet Culture

Posted on Jun 12, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 3:54 pm CDT

The next time you complain about Twitter’s trending topics, you may have no one to blame but yourself.

Twitter announced Tuesday on its blog that trending topics will now be personalized based on users’ locations and who they follow. In theory at least, these so-called “tailored trends” would shield more cultured Twitter users from the indignity of watching hashtags like #BigDickProblems shoot to the top of the Trending Topics list.

“Trends help you discover the emerging topics people are talking about on Twitter,” Sara Mauskopf, the company’s product manager, posted.

“You can see these topics as a worldwide list, or select one of more than 150 locations. In order to show emerging topics that matter more to you, today we’re improving our algorithms to tailor Trends based on your location and who you follow on Twitter.”

Twitter will still let users view more general trends sorted by location, which is good news if you enjoy seeing how the vast majority of people outside of your virtual community use Twitter.

The announcement marks another move by a big technology company toward making the Web a more personalized place. Google and Bing have both added a social layer to their search results, while Facebook has used its EdgeRank algorithm for years to guess what content should appear at the top of a user’s News Feed.

Photo via Twitter.com

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*First Published: Jun 12, 2012, 6:05 pm CDT