TikTok has recapped an eventful year on its platform. The app known for short-form videos has shared a year-end recap that highlights girl dinner, Keith Lee, and everything in between.
On TikTok, the year-end rundown differs from similar lists compiled by rivals like YouTube. On the Google-owned platform, MrBeast‘s multi-year run as Top Creator suggests that a site-wide culture still exists. But on TikTok, the results look a little different. The top video of 2023 was a makeup video from creator dollievision, and if you’re not into cosmetics, you may not have seen it. But that didn’t stop dollievision from pulling in 37.5 million likes on her viral smash.
@dollievision Makeup 💗✨ #melanin #fypageシ #fyp #blacktiktok #makeup #darkskin #fypシ #makeupvideos #makeupvideos #makeuptutorial ♬ Just the Two of Us – Grover Washington, Jr.
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TikTok split its Year on TikTok posts into U.S. and Global categories. (That sounds familiar to us.) While Stateside viewers enjoyed dollievision’s work, the worldwide audience carried the #FarmTok content of Sean the Sheep Man into the #1 spot.
There was little overlap between the creators of TikTok’s top trending videos and the ascendant stars who cracked the app’s list of “Breakout Creators.” The U.S. version of that ranking was led by influential food critic Keith Lee, with ‘it girl’ Alix Earle landing in the #7 spot. Globally, “tube girl” Sabrina Bahsoon rode the London Underground into the #1 position.
The “girl dinner” trend, which got big enough to inspire its own ad campaign, ranked as the #1 viral fad among TikTok’s U.S. community. If you’d like something completely different, videos of people who pretended to be in Wes Anderson movies performed well both domestically and abroad.
“2023 on TikTok was the year we embraced the culinary delicacies known as girl dinners, shared know-before-you-go tips from the biggest concert tours of the year, asked ourselves “what can’t we make with cottage cheese?” and couldn’t stop thinking about the Roman Empire,” reads the year-end recap. “From foolproof recipes to funny skits, throwback tracks and thriving small businesses, the global community continued creating, connecting and celebrating on TikTok, influencing culture and impacting lives.”
TikTok’s year-end recap is more than an opportunity for celebration – it’s also a chance to hype up some of the platform’s biggest initiative. For example, TikTok has devoted a lot of resources to its burgeoning music platform, which could cement its status as a driver of pop culture. Several notable trends from 2023 — such as the prominence of stars like Selena Gomez and Kim Loaiza, and widespread coverage of the Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tours — boosted TikTok’s rep among music lovers.
And then there’s ecommerce. As its TikTok Shop operation continues to grow, the ByteDance-owned app is reminding small businesses owners that they can change their fortunes through short-form videos. One example of that phenomenon is Pluck and Plant, a Japanese eatery that reportedly quadrupled its sales by taking advantage of TikTok promotion.
If TikTok’s take on its 2023 isn’t enough for you, feel free to peruse the app’s predictions for the coming year. Like Instagram, TikTok thinks that 2024 will be a doozy — but it will be hard to top all the excitement that has occurred over the past 12 months.
