Don't blame Twitter for trending fail, blame dumbass Tweeters

Plenty of blame has been placed on Twitter for so-called failings in trending topics. Yesterday, Anna at Jezebel had enough of #urahoe, saying it was "Proof Of The Stupidity Of Twitter Trending Topics." Yep. That particular trend is a fine showcase of idiocy - despite the spelling, those messages were definitely not referring to gardening tools. Just ask Pimpbot.

Wait, what's the complaint, anyway? That trends used to provide some kind of deep insight into the collective consciousness of the Internet? Well, the Internet called, and it said it wants to screw around and play dumb games like #3wordsaftersex and #robotpickuplines. Yes, even I've engaged in the odd game of hash-tag.

When the Jezebel post says "Thanks, Twitter, for bringing us first #liesgirlstell, and now trending topic #urahoe," what they really mean is "Thanks, Twitterers."

Twitter is the arena. We can't blame them for the combatants who show up to the 140-character battles of wits completely unarmed.

If you're trying to use Twitter as a tool, there are plenty of good search apps out there. Retweets are another good way to find out what people are buzzing about.

But trends? Forget it. The fact is that Twitter is overrun with social white noise, and that's not their fault. It's ours.

Tags: twitter, white-noise