If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Facebook must think a lot of Twitter.

After belatedly launching hashtag support last year, now Facebook has released a Trending feature that bears striking resemblances to Twitter's Trending Topics.

On trend

Facebook has been trialling Trending since last August, and has now launched the feature in limited markets.

The Trending section appears on the right sidebar of the homepage works by displaying personalised lists of popular terms and phrases, accompanied with explanations of each result. 

If a user clicks on any of these results they're taken to a Page of trending topics from friends, Pages and public posts.

All in a twitter

Trending is another way Facebook is looking to reposition itself as the place for breaking news and topics, in other words Twitter's bread and butter. 

While Facebook's News Feed is more curated and not as instant as Twitter, by providing an explanation of each trending topic – something Twitter does not currently offer – Facebook may gain some headway in the race to stay on trend.

Trending is now available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and India.

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