Facebook copies Twitter and introduces trending topics

It's starting to feel as though the myriad of social networks that exist are homogenizing. As one site introduces a feature, it is not long before the rest follow suit. Now it is Facebook's turn. Occasional leader, but often a follower, Facebook now boasts a trending topics feature. Simply known as Trending, the new feature borrows the idea used by Twitter and countless news websites to provide a constantly updating list of topics that people around the world are talking about.

In fact, Trending acts as a sort of blend between Twitter's Trends feature coupled with content suggestions. This is not a straight list of the subjects that are proving most popular around the world, but, theoretically, the list should be personalized with content that you have an interest in. That’s the theory at least.

Subjects that have been picked out for highlighting at the upper right hand corner of your account page include a brief description that lets you know why the topic is trending. Click through and you'll be able to see a list of posts relating to that topic.

Facebook says that the feature is rolling out in a select number of countries, although there is no word on precisely which countries are included and what sort of timescale is involved. Mobile apps will not be getting the feature for the time being, but it is on the cards for some point in the future.

Have trending topics hit your account yet? How does it sit with you -- something you'll make use of, or is it something to ignore?