YouTube already has a good set of filters that have been emulated many times over by other websites. You can sort videos by most views over the past day, week, month, or all-time -- overall or for specific categories and search terms if you’d like.
Nonetheless, none of that provides the same immediacy as real-time information, which is why YouTube has taken a page out of Twitter’s playbook and is experimenting with its own trending topics feature.
The video sharing site discussed the feature, along with a few other updates, in a blog post today:
“When there is a spike in searches on a given topic, we are beginning to tease that out on our browse pages to help you see what the world is watching on any given day. You might see the queries appear in a "Trending Topic" spotlight on that category's browse page or at the bottom of the page. We're testing how this performs and if it does well, we'll find a permanent home for it on the browse page and potentially more broadly on YouTube.”
Not surprisingly, YouTube’s trending topics are much like those found on Twitter or broader tools like Google Trends. People are still searching for video relating to the Kanye Swift/Taylor Swift VMA incident, as well as other pop culture topics like Miley Cyrus’ appearance on The Jay Leno Show and Kevin Skinner winning America’s Got Talent.