Welcome back to another month of Try a Trend — a series where we surface some top trends that our experts are seeing around the world on YouTube. So far, we've looked virtual humans, nail art, wash day routines, Majorette dancing, and even Lofi-lore and Wes Anderson aesthetic (you know you've seen those around).
So as July comes to a close, here's what's on our radar this month. Read on to find your trend, express your creativity and get creating!
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Popular Media as Muse
What this is: “Canon events”, sourced from the latest Spider Man release, have taken YouTube by storm with over 150 million views for videos with “canon event” in the title this year.1 Canon events are a plot point that is immutable in every timeline as it is essential to the equilibrium of the multiverse (e.g. Spider-Man being bitten by a radioactive spider), and has become a source of memes for fans, who caption or title videos about their life with “it’s a canon event.” From the Wes Anderson trend to Euphoria to The Little Mermaid, Creators leverage the unique aesthetics and iconic moments of these blockbusters to express themselves in new ways. We have our eye on Barbie next.
Why this matters: Popular media is a recurring source of inspiration for creation and has given creators with different interests a space to play and multiple entry points to enter cultural conversations. In turn, community co-creation drives viral trends and builds upon existing fandom and lore. According to the 2023 Culture & Trends Report, 44% of people surveyed say they participated in a meme over the past 12 months.2
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The Rise of Rizz
What this is: Short for “charisma,” Kai Cenat coined the term “rizz” that has become a touchstone of Gen Z slang and led to a boom of rizz content on YouTube. In the past year, uploads per day of videos with rizz in the title have increased over 15x, and have been viewed over 600 million times.3 With more people adapting and participating in the viral concept, rizz video content has expanded its definition from POV videos to Creators evaluating displays of rizz to sketch comedy.
Why this matters: Virality used to be confined to single videos or the repetition of video concepts. Increasingly, virality is more about concepts that spread from one community to the next, as participation from audiences have increased over time. When thinking about your next “viral video,” think instead about your next viral concept. What’s the idea that other people can extend through their own video creations?
Permission to Flex
What this is: “Are you a T?” has been the question being asked by Korean Shorts Creators who are using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator tests as a way to create fun videos and memes. In Korea, the MBTI functions similarly to the horoscopes in the US, providing a shorthand for people to discuss their personalities. In Korea, videos related to MBTI have been viewed a whopping 100 million times over the past 90 days.4
Why this matters: Things like the Myers-Briggs personality test give Creators an opportunity to share traits they’re proud of, or more intimate details about themselves in a relatable way. It’s “permission to flex” without flaunting, and an exploration of their identity in relation to others which audiences have been enjoying to see.
Skibidi Toilet
What this is: Back in February one animated Short featuring “the Skibidi Toilet” gained over 30M views in just three months, and kicked off what is now an episodic series of over 13 organized seasons much like a traditional TV show. Garnering tens of millions of views on each video, the series features a bodiless head emerging from a toilet bowl singing a Biser King/Timbaland remix, and has inspired complex lore among a massive fanbase. The series’ Creator has amassed over 20M subscribers and 8B views, and has a mobile game reflecting the series concept in development.
Why this matters: Skibidi toilet is a successful example of the narrative potential of Shorts. Because of the content's length and fragmentation, it’s far easier to binge and catch up on, allowing easy access into the fandom. Additionally, because context is so compact, world-building via Shorts leaves much open to interpretation, encouraging fans to fill in the blanks and bring the narrative to life as a community through comments and reaction videos.
Chess
What this is: There have been over 4 billion views of videos related to chess this year.5 While chess content initially saw interest during the pandemic, including its unconventional partnership with comedy in India, it maintained its popularity with Creators using modern creative techniques to bring chess into the present day, from standard gameplay videos to Chessboxing events to unique openers and endgames. This interest in strategy board games is something we are seeing pick up in other places of the world too. In Japan, for example, the chess-like game, Shogi, has experienced a resurgence, earning over 350M views this year.6
Why this matters: Something old can be made new again with just a little creative ingenuity, applying the aesthetics of today’s videos and different formats. Not all video concepts need to be completely new, as classics can be refreshed or modernized instead of recreating the wheel.
1. YouTube Data, Global, 1 Jan - 27 Jul 2023
2. Google/Ipsos, Global (U.S., U.K., AU, FR, DE, MX, IN, ID, KOR, CAN, JP, BR, KSA, EGY), YouTube Trends Survey, n=25,892, online adults, age 18-44, May 2023.
3. YouTube Data, Global, 27 Jul 2022 - 26 Jul 2023
4. YouTube Data, Global, 28 Apr - 27 Jul 2023
5. YouTube Data, Global, 1 Jan - 27 Jul 2023
6. YouTube Data, Global, 1 Jan - 27 Jul 2023