How are you perceived when millions of conversations are happening simultaneously?
Enter: Trending Topics for Threads, directly in Buffer. It brings real-time trending conversations straight to Buffer’s composer.
Developed in collaboration with the Threads team, Trending Topics makes what’s trending on Threads visible to everyone, regardless of your location, through Buffer’s API access.
The discovery challenge on Threads
The Threads algorithm rewards genuine conversations and authentic engagement. Success comes from participating in discussions that people really care about, when they care.
The trick is to know what those discussions are.
What topics are currently resonating? Which conversations have momentum? What should you talk about to reach new audiences who share your interests?
We built Trending Topics in Buffer to solve this.
How Trending Topics Works
When you open Buffer to create a Threads post, popular topics will appear directly in the composer.
You’ll see what’s trending, browse the actual messages from each conversation, and understand the context before jumping in. Then create your post and join a discussion that already has the audience’s attention.
Fun fact: Threads currently only shows trending topics to users in the US and Japan. But through our partnership, we make American trends accessible to everyone, everywhere.
A real example: my quantum physics experiment
Last week I wanted to test the function myself. I saw the trend of ‘Quantum Physics’ and thought, ‘Well, this could be interesting.’ I’m no physicist, but I’ve seen enough science fiction to have an opinion. I brainstormed an AI-enabled message that was both curious and tongue-in-cheek, hit send, and went to bed.
It woke me up 54,000 views and 90+ reposts.
The message resonated because it added value to a conversation people wanted to have. That’s the power here. You participate in real conversations at the right time.
The whole process took maybe 10 minutes. I saw the trend, brainstormed a relevant angle, wrote the post, scheduled it and done. The next morning: 54,000 views.
It’s not just me either. Other people on our team have also experimented with Trending Topics and seen real results. For example, Amanda, our Staff Product Manager, posted her opinion The Muppet Show and generated a ton of conversations and 6,000 views.
What I learned testing Trending Topics
The experiment taught me a lot (and not just about quantum mechanics).
Relevance is more important than reach. Before posting, I spent time reviewing the topic of quantum physics. Some people just dropped ‘quantum physics’ in random posts. They received almost no involvement. You can’t just stick something on a trending topic. The messages that work best connect the trend to something you really have a perspective on.
Timing is everything. Trending topics have momentum curves. Jump in at the right time and you will catch the wave. Trending Topics helps you find the sweet spot.
It reinforces good content. A trending topic won’t save a bad post. But if you have something valuable to say about a topic that people care about, Trending Topics will help you reach the audience that wants to hear it.
Trending Topics is the latest addition to our Threads features. Here’s everything you can do with Buffer for Threads:
Schedule your messages so you’re consistently visible, even when you’re offline. We support any Threads format: text, images, videos, carousels, ghost posts.
Track your performance with analytics showing likes, replies, views, quotes and reposts. See what works, do more of it.
Manage your community from a unified inbox. Respond to comments, keep conversations going, and build relationships in a focused workspace.
Use AI to refine your content. Our AI assistant will help you adjust the tone, improve clarity, or try different variations before posting.
Crosspost to other platforms. Create once in Buffer, publish to Threads and everywhere at the same time. Or customize it for each channel.
Built as an official Threads partner
Buffer is an official Threads partner. We work directly with Meta’s Threads team to build features on official APIs. Our product managers, engineers, and marketers attend Threads API summits. We work together on which features make sense and how they should work.
We are active on Threads ourselves and use the platform daily. These tools exist because we needed them ourselves.
How to start using Trending Topics
Trending Topics is now available to anyone using Buffer with Threads. It is included in all plans, including free.
This is how it works:
- Connect your Threads account to Buffer (takes about 30 seconds)
- Open the composer to create a new post
- Select Threads as your channel
- Trending topics appear automatically
- Browse what’s trending, find something relevant, create your post
If you have a Threads account connected to Buffer, Trending Topics is already there.
Everything Buffer offers for Threads (the complete list)
For a comprehensive reference of Buffer’s Threads features, here’s everything:
Content creation:
- Post scheduling with automatic publishing
- All post formats supported (text, images, videos, carousels, ghost posts)
- Trending topics in the composer
- AI assistant for content optimization
- Crosspost to multiple platforms
- Topic tags for discovery
Analysis:
- Engagement metrics (likes, replies, views, quotes, reposts)
- Performance tracking over time
- Post-level analysis
Community Management:
- Unified comment inbox
- Response management
- Suggested responses
- Keeping track of community scores
Productivity Features:
- Quiet workspace for focused content creation
- Team collaboration
- Multiple account management
- Calendar view for planning
- Available on web, iOS, Android and browser extensions
Try it yourself
Connect your Threads account to Buffer and see what’s trending while you write your next post. Maybe you’ll find your own quantum physics moment!
Trending Topics is now available on all Buffer plans, including free.
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