Twitter trends have lessons for small firms

Small businesses are being urged to study Twitter’s top trending topics for 2010 in order to contribute to conversations and build their profile.

The top 10 Twitter trends of 2010 includes the Apple iPad and Google Android in addition to several international disasters and popular movies.

The results are based on 25 billion tweets sent in 2010. According to Twitter, these trends indicate “the things that are most meaningful in our lives… The list of 2010 Twitter Trends reflects what’s happening in our world [and] demonstrates the power of turning any event or story into a shared experience”.

Stewart Media chief executive Jim Stewart says trending topics are a valuable resource for businesses because they offer an insight into what people are concerned about or interested in at a particular time.

“This ability to connect with people who are interested in the same sort of topic as you, right at the same time, is quite a powerful one and businesses need to take advantage of it,” Stewart says.

“Twitter allows you to run searches all the time to see what people are talking about. Twitter can show you what you need to find information about, people you can learn from and other types of content.”

Stewart says there is an opportunity for businesses to study the list of trending topics and use them as conversation starters with potential customers.

“This list is extremely useful to find areas of news, business, hobbies or so on – whatever it may be – and then connecting instantly with those people,” he says.

Chris Thomas, chief executive of SEO and SEM company Reseo, says businesses shouldn’t comment on everything for the sake of it.

“Whenever there is something trending hard, people are going to get noticed. But it’s quite easy to be seen as spam while jumping in on these types of topics,” Thomas says.

Stewart says businesses need to learn the difference between a relevant conversation starter and what is seen as spam.

“The trick is to learn where you can actually contribute. For instance, I have a search constantly going about SEO. Sometimes people want genuine help, so when I see a question, I can pop in and say, ‘Have you tried this?’ It’s all about positioning your brand.”

The news of Twitter’s top trending topics comes as YouTube releases its own list of the most-watched videos and the most searched-for terms in Australia in 2010.

According to YouTube, more than 13 million hours of video were uploaded during 2010. The list of most-watched videos is dominated by pop culture, while the list of most searched-for terms reveals the iPad as a popular topic.

At present, 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, surpassing 24 hours in March, indicating YouTube is becoming an increasingly popular forum for user-generated content.

YouTube community manager Mia Quagliarello says YouTube has become “the world’s town square – a place where culture is created and shared.”

“Six of the top 10 most-watched videos globally were made-for-YouTube originals… It’s a sign of YouTube’s growing importance as a platform for content creation,” she says.