Dec 01, 2022 [[read-time]] minute read
In 2022, you paid tribute to the loss of a legend, led a top creator to new subscriber heights and set a face reveal record1. You also vibed out to a Puerto Rican superstar and drove a new class of short-form comedians to widespread success.
Before ringing in 2023, let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate the videos, creators and artists you took mainstream in the US over the last 12 months.
Moments involving traditional celebrities like Will Smith and Millie Bobby Brown gained new levels of relevance because of the ways communities reinterpreted them for their audiences through memes, parodies and more.
This year’s top trending videos show that individual, online communities are more influential than ever before. Take the large presence of videos featuring personal stories, which allowed creators to intimately connect with and recognize their fans: Technoblade’s father recorded a farewell message penned by his late son to viewers; Dream finally dropped the mask for a long-awaited hello; and Jaiden Animations came out via her characteristic animated style. Meanwhile, moments involving traditional celebrities like Will Smith and Millie Bobby Brown gained new levels of relevance because of the ways communities reinterpreted them for their audiences through memes, parodies and more. And, of course, top creators like MrBeast continued to bring their viewers together with large-scale participatory challenges.
In this year’s top ten you’ll also find a Halftime Show that hit a note of nostalgia, Mark Rober’s latest attempt to foil phone scammers, a teenage director’s take on a horror-filled piece of internet lore and The Try Guys addressing their channel’s future.
Altogether, viewership of the Top Trending Videos surpassed last year’s: These 10 videos were viewed more than 650 million times over 55 million hours.2 The channels behind them total more than 225 million subscribers.3
The first-ever Top Shorts list shows that when it comes to short-form, feel-good content — whether it’s sketch comedy or visually mesmerizing tricks — reigns supreme.
Among Top Creators, MrBeast claimed the No. 1 position for the third consecutive year in a row. While other familiar faces appear in the top 10, there are also many newcomers who are reaching viewers across a range of video formats.
Many of 2022’s Breakout creators, meanwhile, are finding their niches within Shorts, putting a fresh spin on Minecraft trends and finding humor in pop culture hits.
Finally in music, the viral success of Encanto translated into lasting hits, while Bad Bunny ruled the charts with tracks from an album release that featured traditional and non-traditional music videos alike.
Dig into top trending videos from around the world at YouTube.com/trends/2022, then head here to take a look at the ads everyone was watching.
1. ”hi, I’m Dream” is the most viewed video with “face reveal” in the title or description. Source: YouTube data, Global.
2. Source: YouTube data, Global, Jan 1-Nov 21, 2022.
3. Source: YouTube data, Global.