Today’s Promoted Trending Topic

To have a topic be trending, there needs to be a surplus of people hashtagging the exact word. As I checked Twitter today, I come across the top four trending topics. The first topic on the list is “#MattDamonGetsUNREAL.” Usually the first trending topic in the list is promoted, meaning that they are topics paid for by Twitter’s advertising partners. They are clearly marked as “Promoted” so that the public knows they are the product of advertisement, however they are just as effective as regular trending topics on Twitter.

Which makes me think, why would one of Twitter’s advertising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOOeNvls7qc partners want to trend the topic of Matt Damon getting “UNREAL”? I decided to check this out and click on the link provided, unfolding a list of tweets that include the same tag. As I scroll down the list, I see numerous tweets about someone named Gisele Bundchen, John Legend, Tom Brady, and candy. I have absolutely no idea how all of those can be related, so I did some more investigating. 

Many of the tweets featured a link to a youtube video titled “Get UNREAL – Candy UN JUNKED.” I watched the video and realized that getting “UNREAL” is the name of a company that is reinventing candy. Now how does one reinvent candy? Well, after watching the entire video it appears that all the ingredients in the candy they produce are natural and not artificial. The video shows numerous celebrities (Gisele Bundchen, John Legend, Tom Brady, and the star of the trending topic Matt Damon) eating the candy and endorsing it. So that solves the mystery as to how Matt Damon is getting “UNREAL” and why it is a trending topic on Twitter.

Here’s a link to the video.

The Twitter Effect

In the past five years or so, Twitter has become increasingly popular and is now one of the most frequently visited websites amongst teenagers. It has become young peoples’ tool for keeping updated on news, politics, celebrity drama, and local gossip. This blog will track what topics are trending, what kind of information is being conveyed, and the overall effect the website is having on the public sphere.