The punchline:

Twitter’s trending topics aren’t intended to measure what people are interested in. They aren’t intended to measure what people are passionate about. They aren’t intended to measure what people are committed to. They aren’t even intended to measure what people are fascinated by.

They’re intended to measure “Ooh! Shiny!”

Randomness is huge, & confirmation & publication biases can miss that fact, leading to seemingly replicable & proven theories which become less replicable over time.

Don't go for the certainty of failure to avoid the risk of failure

“So much for trying to put numbers to scat-fetish porn.”

Basically, it's only good for "message" votes. Voting for a third party who might actually stand a chance often helps the party you'd like *least* get in, thanks to splitting the vote.

Working out what people like to pick & what they don't

Including many further insights in the comments

A thorough debunking of the idea that it matters

The apotheosis of the vocal—there have been no instrumental #1 hits since 1986

Representatives are much more polarised than those they represent