The Top Youtube trends in 2019 and my forecast for 2020

At long last, I would like to provide you my brief review and opinion on how 2019 went down on YouTube and the, I would like to discuss those trends which have become outdated vs. the trends which are on the rise. 

 

The biggest issues with Youtube in 2019

Creators strongly pushing their promotion agenda

When you see creators going up to the point to create videos solely for the sake of promoting their stuff then over time you would cease to watch these creators’ content. Since then I realized that the key channels which mostly push this agenda are the self-improvement/above mentioned law-of-attraction like channels.

The demise of most YouTube stars who just don’t wish to change or improve their content

Many YouTubers ended up losing a drastic number of viewers solely because of their inability to change up to or improve on their content and keeping on pushing the same stuff over and over again.

The rampant growth of “tea” gossip channels

Thanks to this, the phenomenon of the youtube star with a dozen million followers is mostly done, with only a handful of the past’s large YouTubers remaining relevant and relatable.

The hunger games and drama inside the YouTube community

Content creators, who previously had genuine content have started to strongly shape their content around promotions. In addition to all this, they have viciously started to get rid of their potential rivals, by all sorts of smear campaigns, drama videos ( beauty community). The bad thing is, that these money hunger games have a bad impact on the overall content. This is why Youtube badly needs one or more competitors.

The growing need for one or more Youtube competitors  

The biggest problem of youtube is its monopolistic situation. Youtube is so gigantic its bubble would soon burst it’s simply way too large and getting too monstrous to handle. This means it would sooner or later burst and consume itself. The monopoly of Google itself poses a problem that affects the whole internet. This makes Youtube content more restricted and more predictable.

The thumbnail clickbait trend using exaggerated facial expressions

Let that be crying, cringy, shouting or anything that demands a reaction. Clickbait with words and using clickbait for circulating trends were left in 2018. Today’s clickbait is created with the use of the above-mentioned thumbnails.

The rise and fall of Youtube trends

The trends I’m representing in this section are mostly leftovers from 2016 and managed to lose a drastic number of views mostly by the end of 2018 while others survived until the spring of 2019. Most of these trends simply turned boring with time, up to a point when even the videos which poke fun at these trends are outdated. Let’s hope we will lose many of these, once and for all:

„No Thanks” trends: DIY, School supplies, pranks, hacks, eat-all trends, eating, mukbang (thank God!), vegan channels, reaction channels, lifestyle and routine vids, try-out channels, what’s in my bag, millionaire lifestyle videos, “what’s the tea”, the Paul brothers, Mental health, Mystery boxes of all type or sort.

Further trends on demise:

Tiny-house videos: I think this trend was largely a short-lasting mania and a hoax used only for the promotion of the selling of these houses.

Marie Kondo and minimalism: there are many issues with minimalism. In my opinion, minimalism is not a state that can be sustained for a long time. In many instances, minimalism is a method used by those suffering from OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder) for therapeutical reasons. Minimalism and Marie „Kondoism” were especially trending in 2018. Since then, we have realized that most people including us, just can’t afford to get rid of the majority of what we have.

Productivity, fake self-care and the law of attraction cult: since it’s been revealed most of these videos are used to promote the YouTubers’ stuff these channels are going down. The law of attraction has a sect-like effect on many people which feels creepy to me.

The top YouTube Trends of 2019

• Decluttering–cleaning: a leftover of the minimalist craze decluttering appeals to tons of people, especially to those diagnosed with OCD. These videos may also have therapeutic effects on those who have hoarding issues ( a reverse OCD).
• Financial awareness/money related videos: It’s a good thing to learn about managing finances. Not only can these be useful, but they are also excellent resources for creators to promote companies.
• Travel videos: see my analysis below
• Gossip-Critics channels: gossip channels were really in, especially in 2018. I feel their popularity will strongly decrease by 2020 and switch to a more analytic based review.
• The tricky state of make-up channels: only a handful of makeup channels have survived all the endless money-triggered drama which plagues the beauty community.
• Knowledge – Informative content: they are on the rise and would flourish in 2020.
• Gaming channels: gaming is a subculture that is rocking. No further explanation needed.
• Apartment buying-makeover-renovation: we all like these, the only thing is, that many Youtubers tend to post these with delay or when they are moving out of that specific place.
• Business analytics, business know-how: more and more channels will focus on business their setup and working methodology. While other channels teach us why specific brands or businesses failed.
• The Shane Dawson-Jeffree Star takeover of Youtube: this was the year when these two guys took over almost the whole of Youtube. What’s their secret? They simply vibe with each other. Their first documentary was for real a beginning of a beautiful friendship of two people who generally feel lonely. And we all love to witness such a story. Especially when they for real start to make their dreams come true. It was a great year for both these guys and I’m happy for them.
• PewDiePie: he is in a league of his own. We could say that he should have a platform on his own. By now, he made so much money, that I feel, he could make a platform which competes with Youtube. The only issue is, that it would be a gamer platform and that, we already have. He is one of the very very few who could ever reach the 100 million subscriptions and who can afford not to be desperate for views or likes or money in general at this point.
• Hauls: hauls never die. People love to watch what others have. It’s human nature.
• Thrifting and garage sales: hoarders unite! The favorite channels of all hoarders, spenders, antique fans alike. Because buying a lot more cheap stuff equals money-saving and responsible spending for many people.

My YouTube Trend forecast for 2020

 

Hustle:  The future of Youtube will be strictly business-oriented

Finally, here is my overview of how 2020 would go down and what problems would continue to emerge

·    The rise of smaller, newer influencers

This year has marked the end of the youtube star era ( with the sole exception of Shane –Jeffree duo and of course PewDiePie). Most of the other youtube stars have officially faded away, they are done.

What I can see is more, many more YouTubers with a smaller number of views, which are lower yet still somewhat decent. We can stop waiting for lovely content from only a handful of people but have to open our eyes and do our research to find those, newer and more interesting creators who are doing entertaining content.

·     The remapping of youtube due to the rising number of content creators

There are just too many people who have the goal of being able to live off from their youtube earnings. This is becoming a challenge that gets harder with time. Youtube has been constantly changing its algorithm in an attempt to be able to give all the more creators the chance to shine. Of course, this also has helped to finish the youtube star phenomenon, for the better and the worse. As I said above, there are many more small creators with decent content but they need some help to be found. So, it’s on the viewers to continuously scan and watch for good content.

·        The continuous loss of individuality and uniqueness

Just like I mentioned earlier the promotion-triggered videos and the stricter and stricter Youtube guidelines put so many restrictions on Youtubers that the liberty of self-expression and the uniqueness seems to be missing more and more.

What content will be trending on Youtube in 2020?

• life-changing in the name of sustainable living: I feel this is going to be a big deal in 2020 and it would be the continuation of the no-waste sustainability trend of 2019.
• Japan: Japan will be strongly trending this year. It’s the year when the Olympic games will be held in Japan, which will make millions wanting to learn more about the country, the culture, the people. It will also make hundreds of thousands of travel there. I can already see Japan rising and this trend would continue to grow.
• Travel: both in connection with my topic above and apart from it, travel-related content will rock in 2020. People are bored of the good old DIYs, hauls and other regular girly contents and they are on the search for new inspirational videos. And what can be more inspirational than traveling?
• Social media analytics and criticism: people love criticism in a good, tasteful way. I feel gossip channels will cease to end. This can be thanked by the downfall of many YouTubers who were continuously ripped by gossip blogs.
• Money and career-related content: everything moving, career-related, business setup advice, social media marketing advice would be trending in 2020.
• Vintage style: Vintage style gets popular every 4-6 years and 5 years just passed. With all the promising new vintage channels I have managed to find recently, I strongly feel that vintage is back on the rise in 2020.
• Garage and Thrift store sales: spend money but more wisely. Thrift sounds so much better than „used”, ”second –hand” or even flea market. It’s a relatively new expression and tons of people fall for it. This content triggers the people who have hoarding issues and who are thrifting themselves or go on garage and estate sales in the hope of making money, of finding something worthy.
• Hauls: I strongly wish hauls are going down. On one hand, I feel, haul videos will lose popularity thanks to the garage-thrift store epidemic. But on the other hand, I know that teen girl audiences particularly love hauls. So no matter how much I wish to write, that haul would lose popularity, I feel, it won’t.
• Antiques: with strong connections to the garage- and estate sales I feel antiques and knowledgeable videos on how to buy, restore antique stuff would be on the rise.
• Old, traditional crafts: forget DIY but learn more about traditional crafts, such as cooking, carpentry, sewing, embroidery, design and more. I feel older crafts will gain popularity.
• Informational videos: these will rock in 2020. I already see this trend emerging and it’s on a constant rise these past months. The next video I will watch will be the one that teaches me how to find out whether a diamond is real or not.

• Mystical (zodiac, esoteric, predictions) channels: come on, it’s 2020! People who deal with witchcraft, magic, esoteric subjects will go CRAZY all year long! Esoteric, ghostly, tarot and other prediction related channels will flourish for sure!

WARNING: this post is intended to discuss trends for the English speaking communities. The Latin American viewers are still hooked up with all the silly trends of 2018 especially pranks and experimental trends (eating gold, eating only one food, not eating for a day, etc.)

Youtube Trends I wish were dead

• channels based on the keeping of exotic pets
• family channels based on babies and kids ( also awful, don’t earn money by showing your kids to the world, especially when they have no saying in that) Especially after I’ve heard of all the terrible pranks, acting these parents make their kids do or react to. It’s horrific and needs to stop.
• millionaire ( or fake-millionaire) kids do new rich stuff (aka flexing): channels of the rich kids whose content is solely about buying stuff or doing plastic surgery. It’s so weird and boring at the same time.

 My 2020 forecast for the key social media platforms

• Snapchat is soon to die. Instagram stories killed it just like it killed Facebook-videos.
• Instagram would go on strongly because it’s an excellent tool for promoting stuff.
• Facebook will go on strongly because of its messenger and multitasking options which makes sharing all the easier.
• TikTok was forced to be trending so strongly, that it means that it will soon be past too.
• The concept of hashtags is fading altogether and I think it will soon be entirely forgotten.
• Twitter will continue to strive, due to its sheer speed and extra quick reaction times which makes it the best news source.
• Tumblr is officially on life-support.

I hope you like this post. It took me literally a year to make this.

Please comment, let me know your opinion, let me know about trends I may have forgotten. I will be very glad to connect or cooperate with other bloggers so if you feel like our content vibes get in touch with me.

Wishing everyone a great preparation for 2020. I plan to have at least one more post before the new year.

If you like my content and want to be part of my journey as a blogger I will be more than happy for your contribution. Never a must!