Trend

A Trend in the context of social media defines a topic, hashtag, challenge, meme, phrase, or content type that captures a significant amount of attention, visibility, and popularity across social media platforms within a certain timeframe. Trends often arise from a strong user appeal, widespread sharing, or engagement in discussions or participatory activities around the related content. They can take on many formats, from posts that go viral to short videos or GIFs, but at their core, the Trend is really a reflection of what a large collective body of users finds appealing at a given moment.

Trends can be organic, springing from newfound user creativity or sudden events, or they can be artificial creations of brands, influencers, or celebrities wanting to start a conversation, increase engagement, or turn something into a viral moment. Viral life forma no one really knows what starts them or how long they'll last, and the potency of a Trend really just lies in the fact that it is the collective body of users finding something interesting. From TikTok to Instagram to YouTube to Twitter, Trends can either be playful, fun, and lighthearted or serious and meaningful moments that arise in cultural discussions.