TikTok's biggest trends in 2024, from brat summer to a Moo Deng in finance
TikTok's had a fruitful, delicious, and undeniably challenging year, both on and offline.
When the social media platform wasn't bleeding lime green during brat summer, dropping CapCuts of Moo Deng's lettuce hat, looking for a man in finance, or shaping modern language while being very demure, very mindful, the company itself faced (and is facing) a potential U.S. ban in the new year — despite the White House joining the platform.
Books, Sephora tweens, the "Apple" dance, and whole cucumbers ruled TikTok, and we proudly told jerks to "scram!"
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But what does TikTok itself see as its biggest trends of the year? The company announced its Year on TikTok 2024 on Wednesday, joining the plethora of Big Tech platforms dropping the data on what we all got up to over the last 12 months.
TikTok's year in review is separated into several trend topics, which we've breezed through here. But you can check out the full breakdown on TikTok's hub. The summary, the company says, "is based on research comprising in-app and third-party insights focused on TikTok's social, economic, and cultural impact, conducted from January to November 2024."
Year on TikTok 2024: A brief rundown
In the "From moments to movements" section, TikTok highlights some of the biggest trends, from Jools Lebron's "very demure, very mindful" moment to Charli XCX's "brat summer" (including Kelley Heyer's "Apple" dance) and Megan Boni's "Man in Finance" meme.
Animal-wise, there's been a wave of adorable stars trending from Thailand's bratty pygmy hippo Moo Deng to Australia's big fluffy boi penguin Pesto.
For foodies, TikTok highlighted some of the top food-related trends, including Logan Moffitt's cucumber salad, the #sambasandalittleredbag trend started by @maisieisobel_'s, Fix Dessert Chocolatier's chocolate bar, @thespudbrothers' live videos, and Chippy Diva's review of @merchants_fishandchips. (Here are our personal favourite TikTok food trends of the year.)
BookTok-wise, the site saw over 1.2 million book-related posts created in the first 10 months of 2024, and a 300 percent increase in #Romantasy posts this year.
TikTok also called out the platform's educational creators, noting the expansion of its educational STEM feed to all users (not just teens) this year. From the U.S. and UK, TikTok's notable knowledge creators included Shelby Lattimore, Chemical Kim, Charlie Engelman, Big.Manny1, Deidre Kelly, Yorkshire Fossils, Doctor Ahmed Ezzat, and the Royal Armouries Museum, who let Gen Z write the script, and astronaut Kellie Gerardi.
Music on TikTok in 2024
But of course, TikTok's music charts have all the eyes on them. TikTok broke down the top artists and tracks on the platform this year. The top 10 songs on TikTok globally saw 8 billion streams on Spotify, with "Gata Only" by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj topping the list. The top song in the U.S. was Tommy Richman’s "MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)" and in the UK it was Tinashe's "Nasty".
As for the top artists globally, Mexico's Yeri Mua was number one, with her track "Linea del Perreo" going viral this year. In the U.S., Sabrina Carpenter topped the list, and in the UK, it was Central Cee.
You can check out the whole list on TikTok's blog. And if you're looking for more end-of-year 2024 wrap-ups, Mashable's got you covered.
Topics TikTok
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
