You’ll find a lot of interesting trends on social media, but if you’re not one of the first to hop on them, it will be hard to get a lot of attention and followers/subscribers from it.
We’re going to show you how to find latest trends on social media so that you can be among the first to post about them.
Why does this matter?
Imagine being one of the first to post on a trend. It’s akin to going viral and enjoying heaps of:
- Followers / Subscribers
- Views
- Likes
- Comments
- Etc.
We’re going to share the best sites to help you spot and hop on trends quickly. But we do want to note that while there are free options.
How To Find Latest Trends on Social Media? (7 Best Tools)
If you have time and don’t mind a bit of researching, you’ll find plenty of sites that you can use to spot social media trends. Our pick for the top sites that you can use to find trends to create posts around are:
1. Google Trends
If you want to find trends, who better to offer them than Google? You’ll find that Google Trends is a powerful tool that’s so easy to use:
- Go to the link above
- Tap Explore
And you can find tons of great topics to explore. You can also navigate to the “Trending Now” tab and see the most trending topics by:
- Daily search
- Realtime search
If you want to search by specific niches, you can do so by going back to the Explore tab and then typing in your niche. I just added “fitness,” and I’m seeing people are talking a lot about:
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Sascha fitness
- Total fitness
And then, if I want to explore the cardio topic further, I can click on it to find related queries that I can explore because they’re popular right now.
2. Exploding Topics
Exploding Topics is another great option to find the latest trends on social media, and there is a Pro option that’s also available. You can use the platform by simply:
- Going to the site
- Typing in the keyword of your niche
But if you don’t pay, you can only look through the topics on the main page. While we recommend using as many free sites as possible, you’ll enjoy the “Future Forecast” option under Pro.
The Pro account is only $39 a month if you pay annually, so it’s not too pricey.
Since everything is broken down into categories, once you click on one, you’ll see trends for a lot of the related topics.
3. YouTube
Did you know that YouTube has its own trending feed that you can follow? You can find the feed here, and it’s very easy to use. You can click on four main options:
- Now
- Music
- Gaming
- Movies
If you scroll down, you’ll see hot topics. For me, it seems Deadpool and Wolverine has a trailer shared by Ryan Reynolds.
I bet if you created a video or short on this topic, it would be a major hit.
You’ll find a section dedicated to Shorts, but if you keep scrolling, you’ll find plenty of creator videos that are trending.
There’s also a “creator on the rise” section, which spotlights a creator who is killing it on YouTube.
4. Twitter (X)
Twitter is where people go to have real conversations about what’s going on in the world and other trending topics.
Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, you can use their Trending tab to see the topics that people are talking about and create relevant posts for whatever platform you use.
The great thing about using Twitter’s Trends tab is that you can view the posts relating to that trend.
Seeing the posts will help you determine whether that trend is relevant to your audience, and it can also inspire your own content. And for each trending topic, you can further sort the results by:
- The top posts
- The latest posts
- People
- Media
- Lists
Take the time to dissect some posts. Which ones have the most engagement? What are people in the comments saying? Being analytical will help you figure out what type of content will resonate with your audience.
5. Feedly
Feedly is mostly known as being a news feed aggregator, but it can also be a great way to stay on top of trends on social media.
We recommend signing up for the free account and trying the AI Feed creator. The AI feed will allow you to filter trends related to your industry and the topic you want to focus on.
If you want to get more out of Feedly, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for as little as $6 per month.
6. Pinterest Trends
Pinterest can be a great source for finding trends on social media. In fact, the site has its own Trends tab that you can check to see what people are searching for at any point in time.
You can view:
- Growing trends
- Seasonal trends
- Top monthly trends
- Top yearly trends
Pinterest even allows you to sort the data by:
- Keywords
- Interests (finance, health, sport, travel, etc.)
- Age
- Gender
- End date
And you can also view trends by region, so if your audience is in Canada or the UK, you can see what’s trending in these countries to make your posts more relevant.
What can you do with Pinterest’s trend data?
If you’re active on Pinterest, you can start creating Pins that are relevant to these trending topics. But you can also use these trending searches to create content for your other social accounts.
First, make sure that you’re checking the trends that are relevant to your niche or business.
Let’s say that you have finance-related Instagram and Twitter (X) accounts. When you head over to Pinterest Trends, you can select Finance under the Interests tab. This will show you all trending searches related to finance. You can further sort the results by adding a keyword choosing an age range.
Right now, trending finance-related searches include:
- Money saving methods
- Cash app
- Investing money
- Crypto
These are all topics that are trending right now on social media, and you can create relevant posts for your Instagram and Twitter (X) to, hopefully, get discovered by more users.
7. Reddit
Reddit can be a goldmine for finding trending topics on social media. The key is to check the trending or hot topics in subreddits that are related to your niche or industry.
For example, let’s say that you’re a beauty influencer. You can check subreddits like MakeupAddiction, SkincareAddiction, Hair or any one of the hundreds of beauty-related subreddits to see what people are talking about.
- See which posts are “Hot”
- Check the “Rising” posts to see what’s starting to trend
- View the “Top” posts
Even if the posts are personal (e.g., rate my look), their popularity gives you some insight into what people are talking about or care about right now.
Paid Tools/Sites Are a Very Expensive Option 💵
While we’re going to focus heavily on free options to find the latest social media trends, you can also use paid tools, such as:
- BuzzSumo, which at one time was so affordable. But unless you pay for a year upfront, the cheapest monthly package is $199. You’ll have trending feeds that you can use to follow trends, but it’s at a major expense to you.
- Ahrefs, which is also like BuzzSumo in that they increased their price a lot and will charge you $129 for the cheapest package. It’s more of an SEO tool than it is a social trend tool. But you can use it to find keyword trends. They do have a top 100 trending topic page that you can follow, too.
- Hootsuite, which allows you to follow topics or hashtags to see what’s trending every day. Pricing starts at $99 a month.
If you have the money to spend and don’t care about the costs, BuzzSumo will be a decent option to try.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should You Post on Social Media Trends?
Yes! Posting on social media trends is a great way to get more followers, views and engagement on your social media accounts.
Just make sure that you choose trends that are relevant to your audience and niche. Don’t just hop on a trend for the sake of it. Put your own spin on it and make sure that it’s something your audience is interested in.
Are Paid Sites/Tools Better Than Free Ones?
Generally, yes. Paid tools will usually give you more features and data than free ones. That said, free tools are still really useful for finding social media trends. If you’re on a tight budget, keep using the free tools until you have the means to purchase a paid tool.
What Type of Social Media Content is Most Popular
The most popular and trending type of content on social media is short-form video. Static images come in at a close second. Live videos, text posts and long-form videos are not quite as popular as they once were.
