The word ‘viral’ is just the word you would use when it comes to something that’s popular and trending on Facebook. Whether it is a game like FarmVille or the latest I-want-it-for-my-profile-pic silhouette photo of Steve Jobs, things can be left to their own devices once you press the Share or Like button-links.

Of course, there are the different types of shares on Facebook. We are talking here about Pubic Shares which become topic starters and surface on our profiles thanks to the interlinked social circle of friends. Facebook’s Open Graph protocol has helped to open up the social network to even more trending discussions and events.

But how do you as a user discover the great content that’s being shared across the millions of pages on Facebook? You take the help of a few web apps that show you what’s trending on Facebook.

Buzzfeed

trending on facebook

As the site shouts out - BuzzFeed tracks the web’s obsessions in real time. The Hot List is all about the topics that are on fire right now. A lot of it comes from Facebook (it is the second highest viral source on the site after Twitter), and with a press on the Like button you can send a lot of it back to Facebook. Buzzfeed tracks viral content from many sites – not only Facebook – but you can be sure that a lot of it is going viral on Facebook even as you read this post. You can also join the Buzzfeed community and feed the buzz.

Buzzfeed cuts to the chase very quickly with feed pages like – LOL, OMG, fail etc. which are essentially categories. You can log-in with Facebook and also see what others are recommending on Facebook.

UTopic

facebook trends

Utopic gives you the best content on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google Reade by enabling you to share your content with others on the service. Utopic is a visual bookmarking service with browser extensions that help to quickly save any web page to Utopic with just one click. The links are automatically tagged and organized which helps you to see what your friends share and like either in Utopic or in external sites. You can setup Utopic to catch all links you’ve shared or liked on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google Reader.

The social and visual bookmarking service enables you to glimpse the hottest trending topics shared by your friends and influencers on sites like Facebook (apart from the others mentioned).

Like Button

facebook trends

Like Button is a collection of the most liked webpages shared by people via the Facebook Like button. In that sense, it is the only Facebook focused app that gives you a peek into what’s moving on the social network. The site is very neatly organized and you can see the links updating in real time. Check out the categories on the left. As the site says, you can use it as a neat homepage to catch what’s trending on Facebook first thing in the morning.

Zocial TV

trending on facebook

I couldn’t find out how current the trending videos on this site are as the videos are arranged according to their popularity over a day, week, and month. With Justin Bieber there, I guess it’s pretty much up to date.  Zocial TV helps you discover the most popular videos for the day on Facebook and Twitter. The site covers the usual categories along with ones that look at education, non-profits, and animals.

Being in the know about what’s trending is a prime necessity of today’s pop-culture. Nancy’s post on 3 New Ways To Discover Most Popular Online Content should also help you to be in with the crowd. Do you consciously go in search of what’s trending on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube? Or do you simply wait for it to fall into your profile? Are you aware of any other site that helps you catch what’s trending on Facebook? Let us know.