finding-trending-twitter-topics-for-content

Finding Trending Twitter Topics for Content

Identifies trending conversations in a niche on Twitter to inform timely content. Twitter trends are 48–72 hour windows — act fast or pivot to the evergreen angle.

Prerequisites

• APIFY_TOKEN environment variable set
• Optional: Apify MCP server installed

Inputs

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Notes
searchTerms	array	✅	[]	Twitter advanced search queries (e.g. ["#AI lang:en", "from:NASA"])
sort	string	Optional	Top	Sort order: Latest, Top, or Latest+Top
tweetLanguage	string	Optional	—	ISO 639-1 language code (e.g. en)
maxItems	number	Optional	Unlimited	Maximum tweets to return
onlyVerifiedUsers	boolean	Optional	false	Only tweets from verified users
onlyTwitterBlue	boolean	Optional	false	Only Twitter Blue subscribers
onlyImage	boolean	Optional	false	Only tweets with images
onlyVideo	boolean	Optional	false	Only tweets with videos
onlyQuote	boolean	Optional	false	Only quote tweets
author	string	Optional	—	Filter to a specific author handle
inReplyTo	string	Optional	—	Tweets replying to a specific handle
mentioning	string	Optional	—	Tweets mentioning a specific handle
geotaggedNear	string	Optional	—	Tweets near a location
withinRadius	string	Optional	—	Radius around geotaggedNear
geocode	string	Optional	—	Lat/lng + radius string
placeObjectId	string	Optional	—	Tweets tagged with a place
minimumRetweets	number	Optional	—	Minimum retweet count
minimumFavorites	number	Optional	—	Minimum like count
minimumReplies	number	Optional	—	Minimum reply count
start	string	Optional	—	Tweets after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
end	string	Optional	—	Tweets before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
includeSearchTerms	boolean	Optional	false	Add the matched search term to each tweet
customMapFunction	string	Optional	—	JavaScript function to transform each output object

Workflow

Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Search niche keywords + trending signals
- [ ] Step 2: Extract high-engagement tweet clusters
- [ ] Step 3: Identify topic themes and their velocity
- [ ] Step 4: Score content opportunity per topic
- [ ] Step 5: Deliver trending topic brief

Step 1: Search Tweets

Recommended — run_actor.js (handles waiting, output, and file saving automatically):

# Quick answer (prints table to chat)
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~tweet-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}'

# Save as CSV
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~tweet-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.csv --format csv

# Save as JSON
node scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "apidojo~tweet-scraper" \
  --input '{"param": "value"}' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_results.json --format json

APIFY_TOKEN must be set in environment or .env file.

If Apify MCP is available:

Tool: apify:run-actor
Actor: "apidojo~tweet-scraper"
Input:
{
  "searchTerms": ["[NICHE]", "#[niche]", "[NICHE] [current_year]"],
  "maxItems": 500,
  "tweetLanguage": "en",
  "since": "[7 days ago]"
}

REST API fallback:

curl -X POST   "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/apidojo~tweet-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{
    "searchTerms": ["B2B SaaS", "#saas", "B2B SaaS 2026"],
    "maxItems": 500,
    "tweetLanguage": "en"
  }'

Step 2: Identify Trending Topics

Group tweets by topic cluster using keyword co-occurrence. For each cluster:

topic_velocity = count_of_tweets_in_cluster
topic_engagement = sum(likeCount + replyCount * 3 + retweetCount * 2) / topic_velocity

Topic freshness:

freshness = proportion of cluster tweets from last 48 hours

Step 3: Score Content Opportunity

opportunity_score = (topic_velocity / 50, max 1) * 0.30
                  + (topic_engagement / 100, max 1) * 0.30
                  + freshness * 0.20
                  + (top_tweet_by_influencer ? 1 : 0) * 0.20

Content angle recommendation by freshness:

• Freshness > 0.7 → "Timely reaction piece / hot take"; publish within 24h
• Freshness 0.3–0.7 → "Analysis / deep dive"; publish within 72h
• Freshness < 0.3 → "Evergreen explainer"; no urgency

Step 4: Edge Cases

• Topic is news event, not evergreen: Flag as NEWS_REACTIVE — good for social media posts but risky for long-form content investment
• Trending topic is negative controversy: Flag as RISK_TOPIC; joining controversy can be brand-damaging; present option to "inform from a distance"
• Niche too broad (returns unrelated topics): Add second qualifier — "B2B SaaS growth" not just "SaaS"
• Trending terms are abbreviations or jargon: Define them in output for non-native audience clarity

Output Format

# Trending Twitter Topics: [NICHE]
Period: [DATE_RANGE] | Tweets analyzed: [N] | Topic clusters identified: [N] | Date: [DATE]

## Top Trending Topics
| # | Topic | Tweets | Avg Engagement | Freshness | Type | Score |
|---|-------|--------|---------------|---------|------|-------|
| 1 | [topic] | [N] | [N] | [X%] | [TRENDING/NEWS/EVERGREEN] | [0.XX] |

## Content Opportunities

### 1. [Topic Name] (Score: [X])
Volume: [N] tweets | Avg engagement: [N] | Freshness: [X%]
Angle: [recommended content format and angle]
Top tweet: @[handle] ([N] likes): "[excerpt]"

### 2. [Topic Name] ...

## Hashtag Map
| Hashtag | Usage Count | Avg Likes | Co-used With |
|---------|------------|-----------|-------------|

Troubleshooting

No trending topics (flat distribution): Niche may not be particularly active on Twitter; try extending to 14-day window or switching to Reddit for content research in this niche. All topics are political/news: Add niche qualifier more aggressively in search terms; most general news topics will surface on any broad search. Content idea doesn't fit your format: Trending topics are inputs, not prescriptions — adapt the angle to your format (e.g. a Twitter controversy about pricing → a blog post "How to Communicate Pricing Changes").