Facebook’s Android app now includes the Trending section

In its quest to be everything for everyone, Facebook is bringing Trending to mobile with a new slate of features. Introduced less than a year ago, the trending section on the right side of your Facebook feed is becoming a more powerful source for news and information on the desktop, and Facebook’s Android app will be the first to experience the feature on mobile.

When you click or tap on a trending topic, you will find five new sections giving topics more content and deeper context. Articles will show you posts from outlets that have been covering the topic; In the Story and Near the Scene provide context from people involved in or close to the event; Live Feed will show you a running stream of reactions from people around the world, while Friends and Groups will show you what your circle of friends think about the topic. In other words, Facebook doesn’t ever want you to leave Facebook.

The way Trending topics is determined hasn’t changed, Facebook says, which may not be a good thing for the world’s most popular social network. Facebook’s trending topics don’t shift as much as Twitter’s do, which can change by the minute. Facebook’s advantage over Twitter is the ability to create a more personal trending section. It knows more about you and your friends than Twitter ever could, and that information can help craft a trending section that can surface more information that may be relevant to you.

While its news may be a bit behind, Facebook doing news in any way is a big deal. People already spend an inordinate amount of time on the service, and providing another way for users to not have to leave Facebook will only benefit the company. The update is US-only for now, but support for other countries and iOS is “coming soon,” according to Facebook. The update will begin rolling out today.