It’s December, so of course, my inbox is flooded with a slew of deeply sanitized and eerily optimistic PR emails from social media companies about “end-of-year” trends and predictions. These trend reports are usually dry, giving an unsurprising select group of creators a pat on the back, but typically lack enough substance to give the vast majority of creators any real hope about the future of their careers on the internet.
Still, I usually end up spending some time reading them all, so I thought I’d share some of my (very subjective) musings about the trend reports that came out last week. (DISCLAIMER: There are a lot of obscure references to Internet trends below, if you don’t know who Baby Gronk is or what adult-baby-diaper-lovers are, that makes sense. I’ll hyperlink some sources for you.)
First up, we have “Year on TikTok 2023” — a trends report honoring the “stand-out” viral trends, pop songs, and rising stars on TikTok in 2023. Darlings like food reviewer Keith Lee, family man Ricardo Mendoza, southern belle Terri Joe, and Tube Girl got shoutouts. I give TikTok props for being the only platform to highlight cultural moments that I’m actually endeared to: the Grimace Shake, Planet of the Bass, girl dinners, #CozyCardio, how often men think of the Roman Empire, etc. (In my opinion, the biggest L’s of this list are that there’s no mention of the great Tabi heist, by far the best viral moment of 2023, nor of Pinkydoll, the most powerful TikTok trailblazer of 2023.) …
– Grace Stanley, Newsletter and Features Editor
In Today’s Newsletter:
- ‘Adult Baby/Diaper Lover’ Furries Report a Wave of Patreon Bans
- This Creator Charity Saga is Messier Than We Thought
- The 10 Best Mental Health Apps for Creators
