TikTok‘s close connection to the youth zeitgeist is an essential part of its pitch to potential brand partners. The app positions itself as the place advertisers can go if they want to get as close as possible to the hottest cultural moments, and formats like TikTok Pulse Premiere put that tastemaking quality to work.
Of course, if TikTok is going to sell its relevancy among Gen Z, it needs to stay up to date with that cohort’s rapidly changing preferences and proclivities. That’s where TikTok Next comes in. For the sixth year in a row, TikTok has issued a set of forecasts and predicted where youth culture is headed in 2026.
The prevailing theme of the next 12 months, according to TikTok, will be “Irreplaceable Instinct.” That’s how the app describes the intuitive, spur-of-the-moment browsing performed by people who want their social media journey to be as impactful as the channels, videos, and products they ultimately land on.
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In other words, TikTok thinks Gen Z is going to spend 2026 doing the thing it does best: Reviving the 2000s. That was the decade when discovery engines like Digg, Stumbleupon, and (early) Reddit dictated websurfing habits, and we’ve already seen that today’s teens are eager to revive that experience in an era defined by demanding algorithms. Flipboard’s social media aggregator and YouTube’s “Play Anything” button are two recent examples of products that center an old-school sense of discovery.
“By 2026, we’re going to see a real shift in how people show up online. Users won’t just scroll, they’ll be in full-on discovery mode, following their curiosity, and expecting a return on the time they invest,” said TikTok Global Head of Business Marketing Sofia Hernandez in a Newsroom post. “For brands on TikTok, that means the era of passive consumption is over. Marketers will need to be on the pulse of cultural moments and participate as they happen, and clearly demonstrate the value they bring.”
Some ulterior motives may be informing TikTok’s paean to internet-age curiosity. Leaning into discovery often requires the use of a search engine, and TikTok still sees itself as a Google rival in that area. The TikTok Next post noted that Duracell was able to use search insights to find a dedicated group of fans in the K-pop community. The battery brand followed up by catering to those consumers.
That, TikTok claims, is how brands must act in the era of Irreplaceable Instinct. They must hone in on trends at high speed and capitalize on those findings before the cultural winds shift once again. TikTok users are favoring honest, unvarnished posts rather than overproduced spots — or, as TikTok puts it, “Reali-Tea” is in. Purchasing decisions will also be driven by gut feelings, requiring brands to pay attention to “Emotional ROI.”
The most nimble brands will find themselves in the best position to dominate the For You Page. The next Jet2holiday meme is going to fly off as quickly as it arrives, so advertisers had better be ready for the moment to come.
