A year has, arguably, never been more consequential for TikTok than 2025. It both began and ended with the social media platform facing an uncertain future in the United States as a potential ban loomed.
However, except for a 24-hour period of darkness in January, users have proceeded as usual.
Songs from past generations recirculated the charts, grown men wished their friends goodnight and quarter zips became cool again. Trends like these, which catch on across all sides of the algorithm, are perhaps the most memorable content on TikTok each year.
"Trend is a nebulous word," TikTok's Creative Center website says. "It can describe ever-changing definitions of what's cool or sales patterns over time."
On TikTok, trends are "the creative formats, ideas, and behaviors that get a lot of attention on TikTok, and in turn influence what people do on the platform," according to the social media platform.
