How to Find Trending Topics on Social Media

Jumping on a trend at just the right moment feels like catching a rocket ship for your social media growth. It's the difference between shouting into the void and joining a conversation already buzzing with millions of people. This guide will show you exactly where to look and what strategies to use to spot trending topics before they peak, helping you create content that gets seen, shared, and remembered.

Understanding the Power of a Trend

First, let's get one thing straight: chasing trends isn’t about sacrificing your brand’s voice for a few vanity metrics. When done right, it’s a powerful strategy to boost relevance, expand your reach, and connect with your audience on a deeper level. Tapping into a trend means you're not trying to create a conversation from scratch, you're simply stepping into one that's already in full swing, giving your content an immediate advantage with the algorithm.

It's also important to know the difference between a fleeting meme and a sustainable format. A specific trending audio might be popular for a week, but the style of the video it’s used in - like a “day in the life” vlog or a "point of view" sketch - could be a durable format you can adapt for months. Learning to spot both is the goal.

Start with the Platforms Themselves

Your first and best source for trends is the social media platforms you’re already using. They have a vested interest in keeping users engaged, so they make it incredibly easy to see what’s capturing everyone’s attention. Each platform has its own treasure chest of trend discovery features.

TikTok: The Trend Factory

TikTok is the undisputed engine of modern internet culture. Trends born here often spill over onto every other platform a week later. Learning to spot them at the source is a social media superpower.

• The “For You” Page (FYP): This one seems obvious, but use it with intention. Your FYP is a personalized trend-discovery tool. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, pay attention to patterns. Are you seeing the same song, sound effect, or video format multiple times within a few minutes? That's a trend in the making. Tap on the spinning disc icon in the bottom right corner of a video to see the audio’s main page, how many videos have used it, and a feed of the top-performing examples.
• TikTok Creative Center: This is TikTok’s official, and frankly underrated, data hub for marketers and creators. Go to the "Trend Intelligence" section to see a dashboard of trending hashtags, songs, creators, and even videos, all filterable by region and industry. It takes the guesswork out of an otherwise gut-feeling process by showing you the hard data behind what’s actually getting popular right now.

Instagram: Visuals, Audio, and Curated Reports

Instagram has been working hard to create its own trend ecosystem, heavily centered around Reels. Luckily, they give you a few big clues about what's working.

• Trending Audio Icon: When scrolling through Reels, look for a small, upward-pointing arrow next to the audio name at the bottom of the screen. This is Instagram’s official indicator that an audio track is trending. Tapping on it will show you how many Reels have used the audio and will let you save it for later. Prioritizing these sounds can give your content a solid visibility boost.
• Follow @creators: This is Instagram’s official account for creators. Every single week, they publish a Reels Trend Report. They literally hand you a list of trending tracks, formats, and challenges, complete with instructions and examples. Following this account is a non-negotiable for anyone serious about growing on the platform.
• The Reels Tab: The dedicated Reels feed is another powerful discovery engine. Just like with TikTok, scroll with purpose. When you see a video with unusually high engagement (comments and shares), analyze why. Is it the audio? The editing style? The storytelling format? That's your clue.

X (formerly Twitter): The Real-Time Conversation Hub

Where TikTok and Instagram are for cultural and audio-visual trends, X is for what people are talking about this very second. It’s the pulse of news, events, and industry conversations.

• The "Explore" Tab: X’s Explore section is the most straightforward trend-finding tool out there. It presents you with a list of topics and hashtags that are currently popular, personalized under the “For you” tab or tailored to specific locations. This is invaluable for reactionary content - weighing in on industry news, a major cultural moment, or a live event.
• Context is Everything: Unlike a dance trend on TikTok, an X trend requires you to understand the context. Click into a trending topic to see the top posts and the latest chatter before you even think about crafting a post. Jumping in blind is a recipe for a brand misstep.

Level Up with Third-Party Tools

While native platforms give you a ground-level view, external tools can provide a 10,000-foot perspective, helping you validate a trend’s longevity and discover conversations happening outside of your immediate social bubble.

Google Trends: The Overlooked Powerhouse

Google Trends is one of the most powerful and underutilized free marketing tools on the planet. It shows you the interest in a search term over time. This is your reality check for social media trends.

• Validate a Trend: Are people seeing a specific term on social media and then searching for it on Google? A rising line on Google Trends indicates a topic has escaped its social media echo chamber and is entering the mainstream consciousness. For example, you might see "protein coffee" or "cottage cheese ice cream" recipes popping up on TikTok. A quick check on Google Trends will show you if it's just a creator fad or if it's becoming a legitimate food trend people are actively seeking out.
• Use the "Related Queries" Feature: This is a goldmine. When you search for a term, scroll down to the "Related queries" section. This shows you exactly what other phrases people are using when they search for that topic. It’s fantastic for content ideas, keyword targeting, and understanding the sub-topics surrounding a larger trend.

Dive into Niche Communities

Global trends are great, but the most powerful engagement often comes from tapping into trends specific to your niche. These are born in smaller communities where your core audience spends their time.

• Reddit: Subreddits are focused forums for literally every hobby, industry, and interest imaginable. Find the subreddits related to your field (e.g., r/skincareaddiction, r/personalfinance, r/realtors). Pay attention to the posts with the most upvotes and comments. What questions are asked over and over? What are the biggest complaints? What jokes and memes resonate? This is raw, unfiltered audience intelligence.
• Facebook Groups &, Discord Servers: Similar to Reddit, these private communities are hubs for passionate discussion. Joining groups dedicated to your industry allows you to observe the language your audience uses, see what struggles they share, and spot emerging topics long before they hit a mainstream platform’s trending page.

How to Act on a Trend (Without Being Cringey)

Finding the trend is only the first step. The execution is what determines whether your content soars or flops. Getting it right is about speed, relevance, and authenticity.

The Golden Rule: Make It Your Own

Simply copying what someone else did is the fastest way to look unoriginal. The key to successfully using a trend is to filter it through your unique brand voice, perspective, and area of expertise. Ask yourself: "How can I relate this back to my audience's problems, goals, or interests?"

For example, if the "We're ____, of course we ____" trend is popular, don't just state the obvious. A coffee shop could do, "We’re a local coffee shop, of course our baristas know your dog’s name." A financial advisor could do, "We're financial advisors, of course we think a destination wedding is a bad idea." The format is the trend, the content is your own.

Move Fast, But Not Recklessly

Social media trends have the shelf life of an avocado. You have a very small window to participate before it becomes over-saturated and cringey. You need to be able to act quickly. That said, never jump on a trend without understanding its origin. What a trend seems to be on the surface can sometimes be far from its actual meaning. A quick search can save you from accidentally participating in a problematic challenge or using a sound with an inappropriate background.

Final Thoughts

Finding trending topics is a dynamic skill that mixes platform-native tools, external data sources, and genuine community listening. By staying curious, analyzing patterns, and filtering everything through your unique brand perspective, you can turn fleeting moments of internet culture into meaningful opportunities for growth and connection.

Once you’ve found your next great idea, the biggest challenge is execution - getting it created, approved, and posted while it’s still fresh. At Postbase, we built our platform specifically for the speed of modern social media. Our visual content calendar and video-first scheduler are designed to help you plan and publish your Reels, TikToks, and Shorts across all platforms from one streamlined dashboard, so you never have to miss your moment.