December is upon us, and with the new year drawing close, lots of us are looking back on the media that helped get us through 2022. So far this week we've been thinking about what we listened to, with the arrival of Spotify 2022 Wrapped stats and YouTube Music Recap playlists.What about videos, though? We haven't had a proper YouTube Rewind in a couple years now, but today we get the next best thing, as YouTube runs down the biggest trends of the year.
YouTube's 2018 Rewind became one of the platform’s most disliked videos of all time, then the 2019 Rewind mellowed out a bit, and the trend was skipped altogether for 2020 and 2021. For 2022, the platform is summarizing the year on YouTube, going over the top 10 creators, videos, Shorts, songs, and breakout creators.
Highlighting the influence individuals can have on communities through a platform like YouTube, the video of deceased gamer Technoblade’s message for his audience was the most trending video of the year amassing 87 million views. Actor Will Smith’s thunderous slap at the Oscars came in second place, while Dream’s face-reveal video came third. Here’s the full list of the top videos:
- Technoblade - so long nerds
- Guardian News - Watch the uncensored moment Will Smith smacks Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, drops F-bomb
- Dream - hi, I’m Dream.
- NFL - Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar & 50 Cent FULL Pepsi SB LVI Halftime Show
- MrBeast - I Built Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!
- Mark Rober - Pranks Destroy Scam Callers- GlitterBomb Payback
- Jaiden Animations - Being Not Straight
- Kane Pixels - The Backrooms (Found Footage)
- The Try Guys - what happened.
- First We Feast - Millie Bobby Brown Needs a Milkshake
MrBeast tops the list for the top creators of 2022 along with a lot of familiar names. Some of these creators also earned a spot on the top breakout creators list, proving how YouTube can propel creators to tremendous heights in the brief span of just one year.
- MrBeast
- NichLmao
- Airrack
- Ryan Trahan
- Isaiah Photo
- Brent Rivera
- Dan Rhodes
- Luke Davidson
- CoryxKenshin
- Ian Boggs
YouTube also lists the top Shorts and top songs from the year on its “A Year on YouTube” webpage. This is a significantly watered-down version of YouTube’s old Rewind videos, all ten of which remain online to this day. However, some strategies never change — just like Technoblade never dies.