Gen Z Trends: 2019 Top Trends

 

2019 has been a year of political turmoil and climate emergencies, cultural movements and tech breakthroughs. And the young audiences watched, listened, liked, disliked, subscribed, commented, shared, saved, created, uploaded tons of video content, creating a huge amount of multiform data, cultures and trends.

It’s almost overwhelming to wrap up so much in a few pages of the digest. :O

But that’s our job, so let’s get to it.

First of all, where are we getting these data from? To fairly represent the young audiences, we’ll take into account their favourite video content platforms (YouTube and TikTok) and our main markets (UK and US). But, as we’ll see below, when speaking of Gen Zedders, the boundaries are fluid, both geographically speaking and content-wise. Something that was born on one platform blew thanks to another one, the line between content creators and viewership blurs more and more, and what’s trendy on one side of the world also affects some remote villages far away. That’s the internet, baby.

As YouTube released its #YouTubeRewind 2019, we were thrilled to see whether it would have flopped as much as last year or reversed the trend (last year Rewind was the YouTube video with the biggest amount of dislikes on the entire platform!).

This year, YouTube turned into audience data and played safe reporting the actual winners of 2019. The result was multifaceted but definitely better than last year: while it ranked as one of the most liked YouTube Rewinds of the decade, many viewers called it “lazy” and “simply reporting numbers”. These kids, never happy, uh.

Anyway, while it might be worth for you to spend 5 minutes of your time on the creators, music and moments that mattered the most to young audiences in 2019 on the biggest video content hub in the world, not everything might be clear in such a fast-paced storyline (though you can also explore the entire playlist of 2019 most-watched videos here).

But let’s make things even easier for you. What should you remember at your next meeting about tomorrow’s viewership? Here are the Top Trends and Phenomenons of 2019 across the U.S. and U.K., in the global country of YouTube.

MrBeast and the charitable challenge videos

 

MrBeast is the Challenges King (and yes, challenges are a very Gen Z way to run unscripted video content). This year, he scored some incredible achievements, such as that for the most liked video creator globally, for one of the top trending videos, and one of the most viewed YouTube channels.

His reach and influence were undoubted — but what made him special was using his voice to bring the YouTube community together with a series of brilliant, purposeful actions, such as::

• charitable challenge videos
• a collective effort to create the most liked video ever
• and the biggest ever creators’ collaboration, #TeamTrees (remember? the one that involved even Elon Musk).

The latter turned out to have a pretty powerful influencer snowball effect: within the first week, over 3,800 videos were uploaded with the #TeamTrees tag, and all sorts of creators around the world joined the effort to raise $20 million to plant 20 million trees. And yes, if you’re wondering it, they made it. :)

Now the question is: given that #TeamTrees came from MrBeast’s fans spamming him to make him start the challenge, what will be next? Clean the ocean?


 

Minecraft back at the top of the gaming wars

 

Since you have been reading our Understanding Young Audiences Digest in the last few months, you should know by now that gaming is one of Gen Zedders’ biggest interests, and definitely not a niche.

Despite its long history among young audiences, Minecraft has seen a boost in its popularity this year. It was, in fact, the most popular game on YouTube in 2019, racking up over 100 billion total views and taking over Fortnite’s popularity.

Its revival was pushed by YouTube’s most subscribed (and controversial) creator, PewDiePie, who got caught in the “ultimate game of all time” — as he calls it — in June.



The month after PewDiePie posted “Minecraft Part 1”, uploads of videos related to the game reached an all-time peak–- starring influencers, gamers, and even dogs from the community.
 

The evolution of coming out videos

Gen-Zedders are rewriting gender identity rules by using video content and cinematic experiences.

This summer, in fact, witnessed the surging trend of coming out videos as three top creators — Daniel Howell, Phil Lester (from Dan & Phil), and Eugene Lee Yang of The Try Guys — uploaded coming out videos that made the YouTube community talk, share and create meaning on the topic.

What do we love about these videos (and why should you care)?

Given the young audiences’ clear interest in the topic (Howell’s went on to become the #8 Most Liked Video in the U.K., and Yang’s was the #25 Most Liked Creator videos globally), what we really appreciate is the art of telling meaningful and deep stories through the video medium while being fresh and extremely entertaining.

A work of balance that is perfectly crafted for young audiences: the cinematic nature of Yang’s choreography or Howell’s animation doesn’t obscure — conversely, it enhances — the vulnerability and authenticity of the stories.
 

BEAUTYful collabs?

Beauty is a huge topic of interest for young audiences, and YouTube is the biggest video hub that also happens to facilitate — at least in the last few years — beauty stars collaborations.

But when the used-to-be-friends-and-influencing-together James Charles and Tati Westbrook fought over vitamins (!) after Coachella, the public drama invaded the whole internet and made beauty industry break through its own niche.

This is pretty much all you should keep about the whole pseudo-reality-tv-back-and-forth saga (you’re welcome!). Still,if you want to dig further and know it all, you may watch Tati’s deleted 40 min video here or the equally long James’ answer explaining the situation that became the #1 top trending video of the year in the U.S. and #2 in the U.K.

Meanwhile, another professional couple of brilliant creators made the news (and the views!): Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson with their collaborative series achieved a sold-out product line and over 115 million views.
 

The young audiences American Dream: Lil Nas X

With the single “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X is the young audiences American Dream: a creative bottom-up, social media-fueled and memes-powered phenomenon that provided a new blueprint for using digital culture to build and promote music.

“Old Town Road” made it to #1 on YouTube’s U.S. Top Songs chart (setting the record for most consecutive weeks), and to #5 Most Liked Music Video globally. Outside of YouTube, Lil Nas X got to the top of the Billboard charts and became an impossible-to-ignore international phenomenon on TikTok. In fact, TikTok was one of the ingredients of Lil Nas X magic recipe.
 

Stormzy leading grime and the biggest stage in the world

Meanwhile, in the U.K., Stormzy’s success boomed, both offline and online. He crushed it on the main stage of Glastonbury, and his video “Vossi Bop” received over 70 million views, becoming the #1 most viewed music video in the U.K. Here’s a snapshot of how he made it from the underground of Croydon to headlining the biggest stage in the world.

Relevantly to the young audiences’ ecosystem, he has also led the broader cultural impact of grime as a musical genre and massive trend. Three of the top 10 music videos of the year in the U.K. are grime, defined by fans as the most cherished British homegrown culture since early 2000.
 

Last but not least, we should mention:

• Billie Eilish, that scored, among the others, the #4 Most Liked Music Video globally. She also inspired a ton of user-generated brilliant videos, such as Seth Everman’s parody “How To Create Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’”, which became one of the most shared music covers of the year in the U.S. and the most shared in the U.K. We’ll talk more about revolutionary pop icon Billie in the Influencer of the Month chapter below — stay tuned.
• PewDiePie’s race to 100M and how he finally made it to #YouTubeRewind. Pew is atm the most viewed creator globally and placed his wedding video at #2 Most Liked Creator Videos.
• Among the Top Breakout Creators, Jennelle Eliana. Her authenticity, lo-fi aesthetic and trendy topics (van life and solo travel) made her channel one of the fastest-growing this year. Her style is representative of a broader trend also followed by YouTubers like Emma Chamberlain and Joana Ceddia. Definitely a must-watch out in the future.
• Want to know more? Here is the whole list.

And what about TikTok?

Born as a short lip-sync and comedy videos app, TikTok keeps growing fast and making headlines for its relevance in young audiences’ cultures (and controversial policies too :( ).

This year, the app confirmed and doubled down on its influence on pop culture, music and video entertainment.

What is a VSCO girl scored Google’s #3 search for “what is” query, and we know it sparked out of TikTok, just like eBoy and eGirl styles.

Releasing TikTok’s Top 100, its year-end wrap-up, the platform lists the winners in each of the following categories:

• Viral videos
• Memes
• Artists
• Celebrities
• Breakout creators
• Dance trends
• Creative effects
• Animal videos
• Beauty and style videos
• Sports highlights

So, let’s discover the leading trends across all the categories, a pool that accurately sums up the quest for understanding What these kids are into these days. This should inspire all storytellers and video content professionals in creating and communicating great stories to Gen Z in 2020.
 

Special effects

The TikTok suite of visual effects and editing tools is there to make any Gen Zedder a mini-director and storyteller, in the shortest time frame and most entertaining way.

The general trend in TikTok videos is not polishing stories but instead creating surprise, grotesque irony and the typical cringe that young folks attribute to the platform.

• TikTok magic sits in the funny element, and cinematic must rhyme with hilarious.

 

Memeable songs

The role that the TikTok community has played in Little Nas X’s rise to the top of the charts is undisputed. “Old Town Road” was the first official case of TikTok turning a song into a meme, then into a smash hit.

And not by chance: Lil Nas X, the young social media and memes savvy rapper from Atlanta, uploaded the song on TikTok himself, and credits the app for its success. “I promoted the song as a meme for months until it caught on to TikTok and it became way bigger,” he told Time.

And that was a great strategy, with the song sparking a massive phenomenon among young audiences: the Yee-Haw Challenge. Hundreds of thousands of people turned into cowboys or cowgirls, often after consuming a beverage labeled yee haw juice, performing Old Town Road and using the hashtag #yeehaw.

Lil Nas X’s is not the only case of artists benefitting from TikTok creative background and expressive tool to gain massive popularity among young audiences. Other relevant cases include Mariah Carey (who has been called the Queen of TikTok this year), Lizzo, Ashnikko and, of course, Billie Eilish.

But even more interesting might be the case of Blanco Brown and the fusion of country and rap (called country trap or trailertrap), which combined at perfection the specificity of a music genre and the TikTok danceability. The Git Up was, in fact, another case of meme pop song (spoiler: word of the month, you can find details on this later on!) that took over the platform first, and the world second. The official video acknowledges that and involves the TikTok creators themselves.

• TikTok can elevate any catchy tune to stardom. The more memeable, the better.

 

The viral videos recipe

• The recipe for a viral TikTok video, the one that was so epic it immediately graduated to viral video status, is:
• 40% fun
• 20% surprising/unexpected
• 20% crazy/out of ordinary
• 20% oddly satisfying

Something like the David Dobrik and Nick Uhas’ crazy take on Elephant Toothpaste, the banana surgery, the Man vs Wild: Roach edition or even the Kombucha Girl gives us her honest opinion. You get the gist. ;)
 

Replicable dance moves

Dance is such a big deal in the TikTok community that even celebrities have to learn the challenges to be popular.

This consideration adds another layer of possibilities for potentially viral songs to gain popularity. Also, it enables people of all skill levels, from professionals to teens playing to grandmas, to engage over a fun move.

All you need is a trending choreography and a popular sound.

• A massive dance phenomenon on TikTok (such as #yeehaw this year, previously described) usually features a characteristic, iconic style (in this case cowboys moves) with a new spin (topped by rap, trap and breakdance, in the same scenario). What is going to be 2020 #yeehaw?

Relatable memes

Memes find on TikTok the perfect platform to spread out and narrate the world upon Gen Z.

Memorable memes of this year include:

#VSCOgirls — VSCO girl memes make fun of and embrace the VSCO girl stereotype (some elements: shell necklaces, scrunchies, Fjallraven backpacks, metal straws, Brandy Mellville crop tops, bedrooms decorated with fairy lights and polaroid pictures, and more).

#Area51 — In 2019, almost half a million people joined a Facebook event to storm Area 51 in hopes of seeing them aliens, inspiring a huge quantity of memes narrating the absurd scenarios that would have ensured if the event had actually happened.

#TikTokCheks — The expression check after a word or hey yo states “check this out.” It was generated by TikTok Rich Boy Check meme, and it’s generally used to say something, followed by “check” before showing that thing off.
 

TikTok Creators

How are TikTok Breakout Creators different from, say, Instagrammers, Youtubers or Twitter celebs?

TikTok grew so much in the last few years that it generated professional TikTokkers, people committed to hours of development and production using TikTok’s editing and creative tools but also holding the Gen Z and TikTok attitude.

They are, in fact, more genuine and they must not take themselves seriously, and this sets the platform apart from the glossy Instagrammers and the heavy Youtubers.

Generally speaking, TikTok’s popular songs, phenomenons and memes encourage people to put their spin on them, an ideal ecosystem for creativity and engagement to foster.

So together with well-known internet celebrities such as David Dobrik and James Charles, the Tiktokkers that are trending the most are Noen Eubanks (recently hired to be the face of a Gen Z media company based entirely on his TikTok following as per NYT); Charli d’Amelio (the community splits in half fans and half “I’m not getting all the hype about her”, but her dance videos are massive — she’s a bit like the most popular girl in college); teen social media star Chase Hudson (also very popular on Snapchat and often enjoying collabs with Charli and Noen); fashion influencer Glitterandlazers (I never let my size or others’ opinions of me keep me from living life to the fullest! is her motto); and American TV host, now TikTok scientist Nick Uhas.

You can find more dances, memes, viral videos, and creators here.

And… That’s a wrap!

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This is part of YAD — Understanding Young Audiences Digest: a free monthly digest on young audiences for VOD and TV professionals. We’ve analysed millions of data points and we don’t mind sharing some of them — if this could help channels and commissioners to reach Gen Z, by understanding their needs, behavioural traits and intrinsic cultural values. 

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