10 trends that have shaped TikTok this year

Do you ever feel like you spend a ton of time on TikTok but that you're still missing so much of what's happening there?

TikTok has been growing in popularity year over year, but for an app that's been around for a while now it's surprising just how many new trends are still popping up on it every day.

We sorted through it all so you don't have to. Here are 10 of the biggest trends that have shaped TikTok in 2021.

1. That one specific song that turned into a bunch of different trends

It isn't something I picked up on immediately, but a slowed-down cover of Beach Bunny’s "Cloud 9" has morphed into multiple different videos across TikTok. I first noticed the tune as it was performed by the user pxrxvi in the "I hate all men… But when he loves me" trend, in which someone (usually a woman) shows off all the things their (usually male) partners do for them. That same tune, remarkably, is used in another popular video format on the app but with a twist. An acoustic version of the song is in the background of the "I hate people who work at the bank" trend, in which people reveal that they are actually, indeed, the thing that they hate.

2. Coffee reviews

In early 2020, while we were all experiencing the first stretch of quarantine, a whipped coffee drink known as dalgona coffee took TikTok by storm. Since then, the coffee consumption experience on the app has changed and grown into a full-on coffee review powerhouse. There's one user, @starbucksrecipeswithm, who makes coffees with her 2.1 million followers; another user, @eggbaloni, reviews Starbucks drinks for his 490,000 followers; and then there is @tybridgwater, who famously reviews coffee drinks on duets to more than 879,000 followers. As of publication, #coffee has 15.1 billion views, and #coffeereview has 10.3 million views.

3. The Green brothers

Hank and John Green — New York Times bestselling authors, YouTubers, educational content creators, and philanthropists — have become more and more of a presence on TikTok. Hank Green, who is becoming known more as a TikTokker now than he is a science educator or writer, posts a whole host of different videos on the app. Sometimes he's talking about pelicans to explaining science to bickering with his brother, John. John posts far less frequently, but he also bickers with his brother, Hank, and talks about his books. The convention that the two brothers originally conceived, VidCon, is even being sponsored by TikTok now.

4. Adult Swim bumps

In one of the most creative and nostalgic trends on TikTok in 2021, Gen Z is bringing back the Adult Swim bumps. Adult Swim, the late-night adult programming on Cartoon Network, used short bumps to let parents know that the network wasn't showing kid-friendly content anymore.

TikTokkers have been recreating the iconic lil clips by creatively showing off the [as] logo at the end of short videos. As of publication, #AdultSwim was at more than 3 billion views.

5. Songs from The Backyardigans

Do you hear a smooth samba on your For You page? Or have you been listening to the sounds of "Into the thick of it! Into the thick of it! Into the thick of it! Ugh!" as you flip through TikTok videos? Both of those are songs from The Backyardigans, a children's show that has, remarkably, made quite the splash on the video-sharing app this year. Both songs — "Castaways" and "Into The Thick Of It" — have gone fully viral thanks to celebrities like Lizzo. TikTokkers love their nostalgia.

6. Taylor Swift and the gang

We would be remiss to not point out the celebrities who have joined TikTok, first and foremost Taylor Swift (who may or may not be engaged to Joe Alwyn.) Her ex-boyfriend Jon Mayer also joined, along with Alicia Silverstone, Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedingfield, and, of course, Cher. Contrary to popular belief, Dolly Parton has sadly still not joined the app.

7. Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, ooh, nobody, nobody, nobody

This year, there were plenty of wholesome trends. This wasn't one of them. To the tune of Mitski’s Nobody, and the lyrics "Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody, ooh, nobody, nobody, nobody," TikTokers ran away from the icks and red flags. Think of the obvious ones: like when an adult man asks for your Snapchat instead of your number or when he starts to like you back.

Nooooobody Credit: Screenshot/ TikTok @_kaywalker_

8. Have you ever been in love? Do you want me to describe it to you?

This audio had an absolute metal grip over TikTok for a swath of time in 2021, despite it actually coming from Skins, a British drama that premiered in 2007. The trend started off wholesome — with people using the exact verbiage to show clips of their loving, happy relationships. Soon, though, the audio was taken over by the rest TikTok — happily coupled or not — and they created a bit of a twist: This doesn't have to be about relationships at all. It can be about astrology, sharing a bedroom with siblings, or a dog's hair in the wind.

9. I think this guy, looks just like this thing

Creator Carter Vail made audio that sounds like the background music to a Wii Sports intro with his voice saying: "I think this guy, looks just like this thing. And I'm not sure why. But do you think the same thing as me?" The first, original video points out the uncanny resemblance between Jeff Besos and that paperclip from Microsoft Word, but the trend traveled to the parallels of Timothee Chamalet and a bicycle seat, Vince Vaugn and a semi-truck, and Machine Gun Kelly and a bag of Bugles.

Couch guy brought out some of the worst of the internet Credit: Screenshot/ TikTok @laurenzarras

10. Couch guy

Whether you think it was a harmless internet trend or a look at the darker side of amateur social media sleuths, couch guy made a huge impact on TikTok in 2021. He entered the scene in a video posted by his girlfriend in September. She was visiting him in college as a surprise. When she opened the door, he was sitting on the couch near other women, and he didn't leap for glee when he saw her. It went completely viral, with some people saying the vibes were off and others convinced he was fully cheating. In December, months after his TikTok went viral, he penned a piece for Slate about what it was like to be investigated by the internet — and how that might point to a larger problem with parasocial relationships online.

This article was originally published in June 2021 and was updated in December 2021.