Across social video platforms this year, nearly 3.7 billion videos generated a jaw-dropping 172.6 trillion views, with YouTube claiming the crown for viewership and TikTok delivering the highest engagement.

Here are some of our favorite social video hyper-fixations of 2025: 

The Louvre Heist in Paris

476M TikTok views across 3.1k uploads

The Coldplay Kiss Cam

1.3B Instagram views across 4.6k uploads

Robert Irwin on #DWTS

819M TikTok views across 9.3k uploads

Blue Origin Space Flight

955M Instagram views across 7.1k uploads

At the end of every year, we join forces with our partners at Chartbeat to track the biggest stories that captured audiences’ attention. Check out the overarching narratives that ruled social media, as well as the most engaging news articles of 2025.

View Top Stories

Now that you have a little reminder of what an eventful year it’s been, let’s get into the details.

• What We Watched for Fun
• What We Watched to Cheer
• What We Watched to Understand 
• What Will We Watch in 2026?

Videos that Entertained the Masses

Not everything we watched in 2025 needed context — some moments were just fun. From kids content that dominated the feed to flash mobs that stopped us mid-scroll and sounds we couldn’t escape, these categories thrived on delight, surprise, and pure entertainment. Here’s what kept audiences coming back for more.

Pop Culture & Entertainment

The Pop Culture & Entertainment category produced a whopping 91.9 million uploads across platforms, making it one of the internet’s busiest content categories.

What we saw in the data:

• More than 90% of overall uploads came from influencers
• Nearly 40% of all uploads were on TikTok
• Media Companies contributed a modest 6.8% of uploads, but earned the most views per video on Instagram

In other words: creators didn’t just join the conversation — they drove it.

Top 10 Most-Viewed Media & Entertainment Creators within the Pop Culture & Entertainment Category on Instagram in 2025

Uploads & Views

Data Source

Source: Tubular Intelligence | Category Pop Culture & Entertainment | Media & Entertainment Creators | Instagram | Views | 1/1/2025-12/1/2025

Two of the top 10 most-viewed media creators within Pop Culture & Entertainment were from Brazil. TNT Sports Brasil ranked within the top 10 creators, suggesting that this channel succeeds by blending Sports with Pop Culture & Entertainment.

Celebrity Memorials 

News of celebrity deaths prompted some of the most concentrated moments of audience attention this year. Memorial videos for Diane Keaton, Gene Hackman, Anne Burrell, and Carl Dean saw sustained audience interest by revisiting career highlights and personal histories.

Diane Keaton videos surged across social, with Instagram generating 227M views in the first week, the highest of all social platforms. Of Instagram’s 227M views, user-generated memorial content accounted for 73% of total viewership. Globally, videos around Émilie Dequenne’s death sparked 38.3M views on Instagram.

Takeaway: Video is an important format for commemoration, and audiences often use social platforms to both grieve and celebrate life. Read more about Celebrity Memorials on Chartbeat’s Top Stories of 2025.

Kids Content Took Over the Internet

Make room, grown-ups…the kids officially stole the show (and the scroll).

This year, 8 of the top 10 most-viewed videos across all platforms were Kids YouTube Shorts. Yes, the toddler tablet takeover is real, and their influence is strong.

Meanwhile, the two non-kid videos to break into the top 10 were TikToks explaining the platform’s integrated Creator Search Insights tool that helps creators understand what audiences are watching. 

Takeaway: Kids’ content isn’t just dominating views — it’s shaping platform algorithms and audience behavior. Advertisers and creators who tap into this family-friendly, high-volume attention stream can unlock massive reach and stay aligned with where digital eyeballs truly are.

Flash Mob Frenzy

The “main character energy” of 2025 was this surprise live performance content that made the world stop scrolling and watch in awe:

If Cohen’s name rings a bell, it’s because he also gave the world the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” public performance that hit 105M views in seven days. The man drops crowd-pleasing chaos like ornaments from a tree.

Takeaway: While major news stories like global tariffs or political elections often take over news sites, #GoodNews stories like these holiday videos are very popular on social. Learn more about the news stories that earned a place in our most engaging stories of 2025 here.

The Sounds that Rocked 2025

Every year leaves us with a sonic fingerprint. And 2025’s was unmistakable.

The #1 most-viewed video in Music was Sony Music Animations’ lyric video for “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, pulling in 813M views. Animated lyrics + K-pop? It was almost pre-destined…

Instagram was the most-uploaded platform in Music by Media & Entertainment creators in 2025.

Top 10 Most-Viewed Music Media & Entertainment Creators on Instagram in 2025

Uploads & Views

Aside from top music produced in 2025, there were the viral songs and sounds of TikTok that colored our world this year. Here are some of the noteworthy tunes that were stuck in everyone’s head: 

“Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday”

 30.1B views across 395k videos

“Shake It to the Max”

 22.5B views across 268k videos

“I’m A Mommy”

430M views across 6.8k uploads

Takeaway: Sound is an important aspect of video creation and trend velocity. Choosing the right song or artist can improve video discoverability and earn wider engagement. 

Categories That Drew a Crowd

When it came to rallying around shared moments this year, audiences showed up loud. From sports feeds overflowing with global hype to ballroom glam dominating TikTok, certain categories didn’t just trend — they united millions. Here’s a look at the content that drew the biggest crowds (and the biggest cheers).

Sports Were Supercharged

Sports content had an absolutely massive year — and the stats might surprise you.

YouTube and TikTok led for the most-uploads, with the U.S. leading global contributions and Brazil a close second. Instagram, meanwhile, became the home base for sports media outlets.

Top 10 Most-Viewed Media & Entertainment Creators in Sports on Instagram in 2025

Uploads & Views

A Few Standout Highlights from Sports in 2025

Takeaway: Sports content isn’t just popular — it’s a global engagement engine. With massive cross-platform volume, international contributions, and sky-high interaction, sports remain one of the most reliable drivers of attention and brand-safe reach.

The Ballroom Makes a Comeback

After 33 seasons of traditional fox trots and saucy sambas, Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) knew it would need to enlist some heavy-hitting celebrities to pull viewership to the show. Their winning strategy that brought in unprecedented numbers and competition in season 34? Getting some of the internet’s most well-known influencers to participate. 

This season garnered a whopping 8.3B TikTok views, an increase of 29% from the previous year (keeping in mind that last year’s videos have had more time to accumulate viewership, so we expect this rise in views to continue growing). 

Takeaway: Dancing with the Stars made an unexpected comeback during season 34 by collaborating with some of social media’s biggest stars. With so many viewers watching dances on platforms like TikTok or YouTube, we saw a massive year-over-year increase. 

Cowboy Carter Tour

More than 188k videos about Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour were uploaded across platforms in 2025 and UGC made up a whopping 94% of it. Yes, the crowds were indeed cheering! While media publishers only made up a fraction of the content, their most-uploaded platform was Instagram where Brazilian publisher, POPline, produced the most videos (59) about Beyoncé’s 2025 tour. 

The #1 most-viewed video about the Cowboy Carter Tour posted by a media publisher was an Instagram post from Netflix U.S. in February captioned “brb rewatching beyoncé bowl for the fifty-leventh time.” This performance of Texas Hold ’Em was actually a 2024 NFL Christmas Day special. The video has so far earned 12.7M views and goes to show that media publishers can benefit greatly from reposting iconic moments. 

Of the most-viewed videos about the tour, 8 of the top 10 revolved around Beyoncé’s daughters who graced the stage. It just goes to show, beyond the glitz and glamour, social audiences are always cheering for the humanity in all of us (even Queen Bey).

Takeaway: A good repost is a simple and easy way for publishers to bump up their viewership. And if you really want to get social media buzzing, focus on a heartfelt moment, too. 

Making Sense of a Chaotic Year

In a year defined by fast-moving headlines and global uncertainty, viewers turned to both social and on-site publications for clarity. Across social platforms, 2025 proved that when people need to understand the world, they scroll for context and look to the comments to voice opinions.

News, Politics & Government

In 2025, News & Politics was Media & Entertainment creators’ most-uploaded category. 

Top 10 Most-Viewed Media & Entertainment Creators in News, Government & Politics on YouTube in 2025

Uploads & Views

The year was packed with headline-heavy moments, and audiences flocked to YouTube for deeper dives.

The top global topics included:

• Donald Trump — 645M views
  
• Political Criticism — 554M
  
• International Relations — 347M
  
• Breaking News — 228M

Long-form journalism made a strong showing too. Fox News’ 23-minute interview with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy was one of their biggest YouTube hits of the year.

Meanwhile, the Epstein files generated 1.7B views on Instagram. Content by media companies drove 67% of views on TikTok while influencers on Instagram took the majority with a 52% share of views.   

Takeaway: The news on social media gives audiences immediacy, quick context, and often, a human lens with which to view the never-ending news cycle. Tubular partners with Chartbeat to understand how news stories on site inspire and speak to news stories on social. Check out the Most Engaging Stories of 2025 here. 

Natural Disasters & Climate

When climate events hit, audiences rushed to social media.

• California wildfires drove 5.2B TikTok views
  
• UGC outpaced media content by 143%, showing the power of on-the-ground footage
  
• European storms and floods generated 1.1B YouTube views, mostly from citizen videos

Takeaways: When a widespread event like the California wildfires occurred, people took to social media to share their personal videos, experiences, and opinions. In 2025, real-time, first-person climate reporting wasn’t a trend — it was the norm.

Looking Ahead: What Will We Watch in 2026?

After another newsworthy year, one thing is clear: Social video is now the world’s record-keeper.

It’s where we learn, laugh, grieve, celebrate, vote, daydream, and come together. The trends of 2025 show a future where:

• Creators set the tone
  
• UGC drives the fastest news cycles
  
• Politics plays out in real time
  
• Music shapes collective memory
  
• And culture is created in the hands of millions
  

As we head into 2026, one truth remains:
 

The story of the world is being told in video — and Tubular will help decode every moment of it.

The post What the World Watched in 2025: Social Trends That Defined the Year appeared first on Tubular Labs.

The strategy has shown up all across YouTube. And while there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to launching a successful serialized format, these creators offer useful lessons for anyone trying something similar.

Get the latest insights for YouTube and other social platforms in our Hidden Trends, Big Moves report. Download it now to see how watch-time for long-form videos on YouTube is changing across device types.

50 States in 50 Days

Creator Ryan Trahan hit his own highs for YouTube watch-time in mid-2025, thanks to his take on a classic content concept: road tripping. But this wasn’t just any road trip. Trahan’s series became a daily endeavor that saw him visiting all 50 states in 50 days.

The idea is a departure from his usual content, shifting toward longer-form videos, state highlights, and an earnest desire to document and share the journey with his audiences. While his kickoff video (from Texas) has the most views at 11 million, the daily release schedule created an interesting study in playlist functionality and retaining viewers throughout series like this.

The longer runtime (most videos are 20–25 minutes) creates a TV-like experience – something you might see on the Travel Channel, but told from the lens of a creator who feels more like a peer. Trahan’s dedication to keeping the series on track has also kept engagement high as his U.S. watch-time grew by 120% month-over-month in June, to 569.8 million (No. 24 among all U.S. accounts, ahead of various TV networks and mainstream news organizations).

Like a Good Gamer…

State Farm launched Gamerhood in 2022, and four seasons in, the gaming-themed competition show is bigger than ever. The season four premiere on August 1 drew 152K viewers on YouTube.

For a brand, creating a YouTube entertainment show that speaks directly to a niche customer profile – while also emphasizing insurance tropes – is the ideal situation. State Farm utilizes a reality competition format audiences are familiar with, and delivers endemic content in a way that has those viewers willingly engaging with the brand for extended stretches.

It’s hard enough to drive tune-in for any brand videos given how crowded the space can be. But State Farm manages to get viewers locked in for two hours or more of Gamerhood. The brand had 4.7 million minutes watched on YouTube in July, and regularly hits over 5 million (partly on the back of Gamerhood videos).

Vice’s Naked Truths Revival

Vice Media’s serialized content approach actually mines a previous one. Along with its many YouTube-based shows, the company recently dove back into Naked Truths – the one-time Refinery29 hit that had successful women sharing thoughts on self-confidence while removing their own makeup.

The new version takes a different approach as a higher production docuseries that takes a raw, unfiltered look into hidden corners of U.K. life with longer-form videos (like findom streamers).

While the previous Naked Truths series saw video durations in the 1-5 minute length, the current version’s episodes run 15 minutes or longer, more resembling traditional television formats – in part to play into the increased use of YouTube as a substitute for TV. And the longer episode lengths create opportunities for ad breaks, allowing the show to have a viable monetization strategy without needing larger linear/streaming TV pickup.

In its first two episodes, the new series generated more than 65K views per upload, with modest engagement.

What Creators and Publishers Can Learn

Serialized content formats aren’t just a throwback to traditional TV, but also a powerful way to drive loyalty on social platforms, especially YouTube.

The three examples above show that:

• Consistency builds momentum. Daily or weekly cadences help create habit, and habit builds an audience.

• Long-form content works on YouTube. Viewers are willing to invest time, especially when the narrative pulls them in.

• Smart packaging pays off. From playlists to episodic branding, making it easy to “watch the next one” increases total engagement.

As YouTube content continues to attract viewership on big screens, the creators and brands who think in series, not just single hits, will be the ones that stand out.

The post How Serialized Content Drives Loyalty on YouTube appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Too often, partnerships are chosen based on surface-level metrics like views and engagement. But with social video intelligence, brands can uncover deeper audience interests to discover unexpected collaboration opportunities.

Tubular’s latest research on cross-category partnerships shows how analyzing social media data leads to smarter collaborations. Using social video analytics, we reveal how industries like beauty, gaming, and food can connect in surprising, yet highly effective, ways.

Can’t wait to see the insights? 

Why Traditional Targeting Is So Last Year…

​Traditional audience targeting assumes people fit into neat categories. Beauty lovers only care about makeup, gamers only care about consoles, and foodies only care about recipes. But in reality, audiences are multidimensional.

Social video analytics let brands see:

• What other content categories their audiences watch
  
• Where audience overlap exists between seemingly unrelated topics
  
• How collaborations impact audience expansion and engagement
  

For example, when we looked at topics YouTube Beauty viewers in the UK were also interested in, we saw some obvious overlap with Fashion and Jewelry, and some not-so-obvious overlap with Racing and Motorsports. 

Beauty Meets Motorsports

Charlotte Tilbury x Formula 1 Academy

At first glance, Beauty and Motorsports might seem worlds apart. But Tubular’s data found that UK female Beauty viewers are 11.4x more likely to watch Motorsports content than the average viewer.

Insights like these can fuel innovative partnership decisions. In fact, Charlotte Tilbury became the first beauty brand to partner with the Formula 1 Academy. And the campaign didn’t just make history — it was a runaway success:

• 9.6M TikTok views from user-generated content (UGC)
  
• 852K engagements across official and fan posts
• +97% increase in audience overlap between Beauty and F1 content year-over-year
  

Key Takeaway: Bold partnerships expand reach and unlock new audience segments.

Gaming Meets Glamour

Riot Games x Fenty Beauty

Female gamers are a growing but under-served audience. Tubular’s analytics showed strong affinities between women in gaming and major beauty brands like YSL, NYX, and L’Oréal.

Riot Games capitalized on this by partnering with Fenty Beauty on a limited-edition makeup collection inspired by its hit series Arcane. The colab went viral:

• 59M TikTok views in UGC
  
• 1.6M Instagram engagements
  
• A surge of beauty tutorials, cosplay, and swatch content that blurred the lines between gaming and beauty culture

Key Takeaway: Partnerships thrive when audiences are invited to participate, not just consume.

Bonus Research

Food Meets Nostalgic Entertainment

What happens when you merge cookware with entertainment nostalgia? You get one of the most viral cross-category collaborations of the year.

We break down the full story in our latest report — including how a cookware brand leveraged a beloved pop culture franchise to drive millions of unexpected views and engagements.

How to Identify the Best Influencer or Brand Partnerships

So, how can brands apply these insights? Here’s a step-by-step framework:

1. Analyze audience affinities – Use social media analytics to uncover what else your target audience watches and engages with.
   
2. Look for the unexpected – Viral impact comes from partnerships outside of your category.
   
3. Validate with data – Track audience overlap and engagement growth to prove the partnership’s value.
   
4. Enable co-creation – Encourage UGC with interactive content so audiences fuel the campaign’s momentum.
   

With the right social video intelligence, marketers don’t need to guess. They can see where unexpected partnerships will thrive — and confidently invest in collaborations that deliver measurable results.

Want to discover unexpected partnership opportunities for your brand?
Request a demo today.

The post How to Identify the Best Partnerships with Social Video Intelligence appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Fortunately, Tubular recently launched summary panels in Viewpoint that automatically contextualize data from the social video universe. The panels bring key insights front and center to help you quickly understand what’s driving performance, spot trends, and decide your next content move.

Today, we’re giving you an inside look into the Tubular Viewpoint product, some of the people on our team who helped build it, and how summary panels are transforming dispersed data into actionable insights.

But First, What’s Viewpoint?

​Viewpoint is Tubular’s intuitive social video analytics tool, built for busy teams who need instant takeaways and inspiration. Beginner-friendly analytics, clean dashboards, and competitive insights empower teams to spend less time digging through data and more time acting on it.

With Viewpoint, you can:

• Monitor competitive social video performance all in one place: Track views, engagements, uploads, and cross-platform performance over the past 90 days
• Discover content opportunities: See which Topics are gaining traction and identify top-performing content across platforms for inspiration
• Understand your audience: Explore demographics, engagement, and relevant Creators, Video Categories, and Topics to inform creative decisions
• Benchmark against competitors: Compare recent views, engagements, and growth for any Creator, and chart their performance as often as you need

New to Viewpoint?
Watch our on-demand Viewpoint webinar and see the contextual insights panels in action.

Contextual Insights in the Bigger Picture of Tubular Analytics 

For teams working in fast-paced environments, data hunting can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. But with contextual insights panels, users get the data they need in an instant.

These side panels in Viewpoint help surface relevant trends, performance snapshots, and related opportunities alongside the content or metrics you’re analyzing – helping you remove unnecessary steps and cognitive overload. 

A Single Place for Clear, Quick Takeaways

“Before the contextual insights panels, there wasn’t a single, clear place to get condensed information on key entities like Topics,” Erkin Polat, Senior Software Engineer at Tubular, explained. “The data existed across the app, but it wasn’t easy for users to pull together quickly.”

The team set out to fix that by embedding this feedback directly into the platform, eliminating the need to click away from the page users are working in. Instead of building custom dashboards or advanced queries, users can now access high-level trends and recent performance with a single click.

What Insights Do the Panels Provide?

• Quick performance snapshots on Topics and Creators across social platforms
• Top contributing videos driving trends without the need to create custom search dashboards
• More detailed analysis with the ability to click into related parts of the Tubular platform
• Deeper insights and context, making it easier to understand what’s driving trends

This means you can spot spikes in engagement, drops in views, or emerging trends without friction, which is perfect for teams that need to make data-driven decisions on the fly.

Building the Panels: Technical Opportunities and Frameworks

While Viewpoint panels use Tubular’s existing data sources, building them was not plug-and-play.

Tubular’s data queries are deep and resource-intensive, so the Engineering team balanced the capability to perform in-depth data pulls with an easy-to-use interface.

The Data Signals Behind the Scenes

What powers the panels?

• Recent performance trends show how performance changes over time
• Audience Also Watches surfaces related audience interests for deeper discovery
• Integration with other Tubular products makes the panels feel seamless across data workflows
• The same robust data that powers Tubular: 15B videos, 45M Creators, 1M Categories and Topics all presented in easy-to-understand summaries

What’s Next? Tubular’s Vision for Contextual Insights

Viewpoint and its contextual insights panels are just the beginning of Tubular’s efforts to provide direct content strategy takeaways based on social video data. 

Our Engineering team is also exploring ways to embed contextual summarization capabilities deeper within the platform, working to enhance other areas of the user experience and streamline data workflows even further:

Ultimately, the long-term vision is to bring contextual insights panels to every corner of Tubular where social video data lives — whether for panels, Creators, Topics, or campaign reports. The more places users can see insights in context, the more seamless and impactful their workflows become.

Why Contextual Insights Matter for Tubular Users

Embedding contextual insights panels directly into workflows in Tubular reduces cognitive load and makes data easier to act on.

“It’s good to be able to say to my team, ‘all of this data is in one place and it’s consistently presented.’ Each platform prioritizes different metrics or measures success in different ways, and this allows my team to focus on the data they care about and measure success all in one place.” Glenn Freeman, Editor-in-Chief at The Race and Viewpoint User

Contextual insights panels aren’t about adding more data — they’re about highlighting what matters most when you need it, so you can move faster in a rapidly shifting social video landscape.

This is one more way Tubular is delivering on its mission: helping customers make sense of the social video universe — and take action confidently.

Want to see how the contextual insights panels work?
Request a demo or reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn how to get the most out of these new insights.

The post Social Video Data: Move Faster with Contextual Insights appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Social video moves fast. What worked last quarter might flop tomorrow, and new formats, trends, and viewer behaviors can change everything overnight. That’s where Tubular’s Insights & Strategy (I&S) team comes in. Our dedicated team of social video experts combines custom market research with proprietary Tubular data to give brands and media companies strategic insights and a competitive edge.

What does our Insights & Strategy team do? Tailored social video consulting. Grounded data. Proven frameworks.  -Understand where you stand in the social ecosystem -Identify competitive threats and growth opportunities -Develop content and channel strategies that actually move the needle

Data is critical but it doesn’t count as an insight unless it provides an actionable takeaway. The I&S team is made up of experts who unearth hidden takeaways to enlighten customers, help shape video strategy, and outperform the competition. Now, let’s explore three key data analyses Tubular’s I&S team uses to perk up our customers’ content strategies. 

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Content Analysis 

What’s Working — and Why?

We look at themes, formats, production choices, thumbnail design, talent types, tone, pacing, and more to identify patterns in what’s resonating (and what isn’t). It’s how we help brands optimize creative strategy by understanding the “why” behind performance.

“Whether it’s surfacing emerging trends, analyzing their competitors’ strategies for what resonates and what doesn’t, or identifying whitespace opportunities – content analysis insights help our clients make more data-driven decisions about where to focus their resources. One of my B2B enterprise software clients described our competitive content analysis as foundational in leading their full-year content planning, giving them the confidence to shift their strategies and stand out in a crowded market.

– Ellen Marte, I&S Strategist

For example, Insights & Strategy took a look at what coffee brands are doing to reach audiences on YouTube. Among U.S. and Canadian coffee brands, Music Videos made up 36% of the top 25 YouTube uploads, with Narrative formats close behind at 32% — a clear move toward entertainment and storytelling.

• Dunkin’ delivered polished, high-production content with comedic writing and celebrity talent, leaning into humor and fame.
  
• Dutch Bros tapped into TikTok and Shorts trends like “this & yap,” embracing quick-turn, trend-driven formats.
  
• Tim Hortons used emotional storytelling to spotlight national pride, with campaigns like Rookie Card featuring NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.

There are different types of content that resonate, as well as nuances within the content like sounds, on-screen text, and more. Understanding evolving audience preferences and what your competition is doing to innovate can inspire a better content strategy.

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Keyword Analysis

What Are People Searching For?

Keyword analysis identifies high-performing phrases used in video titles, descriptions, and captions that improve discoverability. It’s especially useful for surfacing white space opportunities — where demand is high, but supply is low.

“Our customers rely on keyword analysis to understand what their audiences are talking about and searching for. It helps them uncover trending topics and community language they might otherwise miss.”

–Seth Finley, I&S Strategist

Looking at coffee on YouTube, we see that keywords like “hits different” and “coffee with Nutella” average millions of views with very few uploads to compete with. 

Owning the “Morning Coffee” Moment
Coffee brands can build emotional resonance by tapping into daily rituals and viral language:

• “Hits different” gives a sip of coffee emotional weight, making the brand feel personal, modern, and meme-friendly.
  
• Experimental flavors like “coffee with Nutella,” “strawberry coffee,” and “cotton candy coffee” create shareable, curiosity-driving moments perfect for limited drops.
  
• Global inspiration from Japanese coffee house aesthetics and rituals offers brands a way to connect with culturally curious consumers and stand out in a saturated market.

By understanding how audiences talk about coffee on social, we help clients craft content that feels timely, relevant, and irresistibly clickable.

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 Audience Analysis

Who’s Really Watching?

Audience analysis gives customers a window into the demographics and behaviors of their most valuable viewers. We go beyond basic age and gender demographics to understand audience affinities, channel overlap, and viewing patterns that can inform smarter targeting and partnership strategy.

Use Cases:

• Channel Strategy: How does your audience compare to your competitors’? Which channels are pulling ahead, and what actions are fueling their growth?
  
• Audience Targeting: What age groups, locations, or interests are most engaged with your content?
  
• Affinity & Overlap: What other topics, creators, or channels does your audience love?
  

“Our customers love audience segmentation because we uncover what matters to different communities – their values, interests, and motivations – allowing them to connect more authentically, in more meaningful ways. These insights have helped our customers shape smarter long-term strategies around brand positioning, product development, and go-to-market planning.”

– Celine Lee, Manager, I&S International

Coffee Audiences Are Foodies at Heart

The Insights & Strategy team looked at 18–34-year-olds in the U.S. and Canada who engage with coffee content on YouTube. There, a clear pattern emerged: these viewers are deeply passionate about desserts, cooking shortcuts, and the tools that elevate their kitchen game.

This kind of insight opens up rich opportunities for cross-category collaborations and culturally relevant creative themes.

Some of the top affinities for 18–34-year-old U.S. and Canadian coffee viewers include:

Whether it’s showcasing indulgent treats or spotlighting the tools behind the brew, coffee brands can expand their creative strategy and even partner with baking creators or food influencers — meeting their audience not just in the cup, but in the kitchen.

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Why it Matters

Social video isn’t just about chasing trends — it’s about understanding people. What they care about. What makes them laugh. What makes them hit replay. 

Tubular’s Insights & Strategy team helps you decode the “why” behind the views, equipping you with a clear path forward in a noisy, fast-moving content landscape.

Whether you’re trying to win attention, own a niche, or shape culture, we’re here to help you get there — with data that doesn’t just describe the past, but guides your next move.

The post Brewing a Better Video Strategy: How Tubular Analysts Turn Insights into Actionable Takeaways appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Imagine a baseball game crossed with a circus, TikTok challenge, and live comedy show. That’s the Savannah Bananas. They tour nationally, selling out real MLB stadiums with their choreographed dances mid-game, often playing in kilts and involving fans in zany stunts. And get this  — in the past 90 days all MLB Teams combined earned 71.7M YouTube views while the Bananas, alone, earned 42.9M. 

This very untraditional approach to the sport of baseball has put the Savannah Bananas on the same playing field (literally and figuratively) as the MLB itself. In the past 90 days, the Bananas are nearly tied for social video engagements with MLB-owned content across platforms.

But the Savannah Bananas didn’t just go viral because their version of baseball is quirky. They have succeeded because they built a content machine — optimized for fan interaction and community-first storytelling. 

So what could the New York Mets learn from the Savannah Bananas? Don’t worry — Francisco Lindor doesn’t need to dance on stilts to win on social. Rather, it’s about leagues and teams thinking more like media creators. In Q1 2025 alone, the Bananas posted 385 videos across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. That’s more than four times the output of the Atlanta Braves over the same period. They averaged 1.5 videos per day just on YouTube. And of their 132 YouTube videos, 92 were Shorts — that’s 69.7%, to be exact.

@thesavbananas

Replying to @hannah you guys asked, so you guys shall recieve @Kyle “KJ” Jackson #savannahbananas #ordinary #baseballboys

♬ original sound – thesavbananas

Meanwhile, as baseball returned, Bananas’ TikTok viewership exploded from 7.3M in January to 117M in March — a 1,503% increase in just two months. Their top TikTok in April? A comment-reaction post that racked up 17.6M views in 30 days. Engagement isn’t just a tactic; it’s a strategy.

And it’s working. Their Facebook audience is 56% female — a rarity in traditional sports. Compare that to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have just 21% female followers on Facebook. The Bananas are growing a new kind of sports fan, overlapping sports with other verticals like dance and pop-music. 

Here are five content lessons every traditional team and broadcaster can learn from the Savannah Bananas’ viral playbook:

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1. Entertain First, Inform Second

The Bananas treat every moment as a content opportunity. From choreographed dances to in-game skits, their videos are high-energy, funny, and tailor-made for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

Inspiration for traditional teams: Think beyond highlight reels. Share mic’d-up moments, locker room energy, coach banter — give fans a peek into athlete camaraderie and team culture, not just the scoreboard.

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2. Optimize for Platforms, Not Just Cameras

Banana Ball moments are designed for the feed — vertical framing, attention-grabbing hooks, and short runtimes. While they still stream full two-hour games on their YouTube channel, they also make Reel-friendly edits that are ready to be shared across short-form social platforms. 

Inspiration for broadcasters: Recut content by format. A 2-hour game can yield 6 punchy Instagram Reels, a behind-the-scenes TikTok, and a YouTube mini-doc.

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3. Turn Athletes into Characters

Savannah players all have nicknames, gimmicks, and showman personalities. It’s sports meets storytelling, and fans follow their favorite characters like influencers.

Inspiration for teams: Build athlete narratives. While the interior of many athletes’ lives remain mysterious, the truth is professional players are also personal brands. Let fans follow their journeys, rivalries, and off-field personalities to build intrigue and loyalty. Featuring content with their families, spouses, or partners can be an easy way to show their lives outside the stadium. 

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4. Leverage a Fan-First Content Strategy

The Bananas don’t just post content — they co-create it with their audience by listening to and engaging with comments. Their most-watched TikTok in April 2025 earned 17.6M views in the first 30 days and was a direct reply to a fan comment.

Inspiration for teams: Prioritize fan interaction. Lean into user-generated content (UGC), and use comments as an indicator for the type of content and information your audience wants to see from you. Your audience wants to be part of the action – let them.

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5. Create Content That Appeals to Everyone — Not Just Sports Fans

The Bananas have mastered the art of dual appeal. On one hand, they know how to play to adult audiences — such as male players flaunting just enough for the female gaze. It’s cheeky and suggestive without crossing the line, striking a balance that’s bold (but never inappropriate).

On the other hand, their games are filled with laugh-out-loud, kid-friendly moments that go viral for being wholesome. Think: baby-crawling races toward their parents, toddlers stealing the show during on-field promos, and emotional family reunions in front of packed stadiums. It’s sports content engineered to melt hearts and get laughs — all while being extremely shareable.

Inspiration for teams:  You don’t have to choose between edgy and endearing. Make content that resonates with multiple audiences — from Gen Z women to sports moms, casual viewers to hardcore fans. A broader appeal drives higher engagement, more shares, and a more inclusive fanbase.

The Savannah Bananas didn’t break the internet just by being different. They did it by being deliberately digital. With the right strategy, traditional teams can do it too — no stilts required.

Ready to build your social media playbook? Request a demo today.

The post 5 Social Media Lessons Traditional Sports Teams Can Learn from the Savannah Bananas appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Audiences are no longer turning to traditional search engines for answers to everyday questions — they’re heading straight to social media. From beauty hacks to toddler toy tutorials, social is where people now search, and learning content is their guide.

In Part 2 of Tubular Labs’ report, we dive into three more content categories that are thriving thanks to this shift in behavior: Beauty, Home & DIY, and Family & Parenting.

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Beauty: A Missed Opportunity for Brands and Creators

In 2024, Beauty videos featuring learning content like how-to’s, DIY guides, and product reviews consistently outperformed platform-wide Beauty content across social media. With learning content on Tiktok and Instagram, for example, influencers dominate Beauty educational content by uploads — but not by views per video or engagements per video.

• In 2024, influencers posted 187x more TikToks than media companies, yet media companies averaged 11% more views per video.
  
• On Instagram last year, media companies earned 7.7% more engagement per video than influencers despite uploading far less.

Key takeaway: Beauty brands should invest more in learning content and label it properly with how-to and DIY terms and captions to boost discoverability.

Example: e.l.f. Cosmetics scored 1.1M engagements on Instagram in 2024 by using a “how-to” caption — even though the video itself wasn’t educational.

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Home, Craft & DIY: The Rise of Dad Creators

Social audiences are obsessed with dad DIY content — from toddler car makeovers to backyard playhouses.

• In 2024 the most engaging DIY video in this Instagram category was posted by @dadsocial and earned 8M engagements in just 90 days.
  
• On TikTok last year, another toddler car makeover by the same creator earned 81M views.

Don’t worry — if you’re not a dad, you can still leverage educational content on social. LG launched an “Ask LG” series to answer product FAQs and saw a 20% lift in views compared to their average TikTok content.

Key takeaway: You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to create educational content. Partner with a parent creator, or turn your FAQs and user manuals into social video content — it works.

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Family & Parenting: Community and Care

Moms are turning to TikTok and Instagram for hacks, product tips, and emotional support.

• Instagram engagement for Family & Parenting learning content hit 145M in November 2024, the highest ever.
  
• TikToks with “safe” or “safety” in the caption earned 28M views in 2024.
  
• YouTube saw a surge in narrative-style parenting content, with October 2024 alone bringing in 3.6B views.

Key takeaway: Learning content here isn’t just instructional — it’s deeply emotional and community-driven. Brands should create content that feels helpful and human.

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Key Learning Content Takeaways for Media Creators and Brands

Whether you’re in skincare or power tools, here’s how to show up where your audience is searching:

1. Use learning language — Add relevant “how to,” “DIY,” or “tips” in captions, hashtags, and on-screen text.
   
2. Repurpose existing content — Update your best posts to include relevant, learning-focused labels.
   
3. Expand your partnerships — Work with creators who understand storytelling and education.
   

Want to learn more? Download Tubular’s full report here.

The post Social Is the New Search: Tapping into Tips, Tools, and Tutorials appeared first on Tubular Labs.

For more actionable insights and takeaways, download the report here.

Social search is here to stay. Whether you’re a brand or creator, now is the time to invest in learning content.

The post Social Is the New Search: Why Learning Content Wins on Social Media appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Social video speaks many languages, trends evolve differently in every region, and content consumption varies across cultures. Understanding global audiences starts with speaking their language—literally. While English is the most widely spoken language in the world, other markets are emerging rapidly. Without the right insights, brands, agencies, and media companies risk missing opportunities to engage with audiences across the globe. This is why Tubular’s engineers have been working hard behind the scenes to expand video categorization coverage to include 4 new languages: Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.

Multilanguage insights open up new worlds for marketers and media creators to:

• Craft localized campaigns with targeted messaging and positioning by monitoring regional content trends, cultural nuances, and audience preferences.
• Identify influential creators in key markets who are already engaging key target audiences in their native language.
• Optimize content strategies across languages and regions to maximize engagement in every market.

To provide a more holistic view of the social landscape, Tubular’s machine learning models organize billions of videos into a structured taxonomy of categories and topics. And now—we’ve expanded video categorization coverage to a total of 5 languages.

With this enhancement, Tubular provides broader, more precise global coverage, categorizing videos in Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, increasing total video category coverage by 66%. New languages provide stronger insights into what’s trending, how audiences engage, and what drives views around the world.

To better understand how new language categorization opens doors for marketers and media creators, we spoke with Tubular Data Scientist II, Mykyta Minenko, and Senior Data Scientist I, Elena Dmytriieva, about the future of social video categorization.

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What was the philosophy behind expanding Tubular’s product suite to include new language video categorization?

Our philosophy is driven by both technological advancement and market demands.

Initially, our system was heavily English-centric due to limitations in Natural Language Processing (NLP) models and the complexity of data collection. Expanding beyond English became a natural next step as NLP capabilities evolved—particularly with large language models (LLMS) demonstrating strong multilingual performance.

We selected the four new languages based on clients’ needs and locations. One of our biggest challenges in this expansion effort was data validation, given the limited labeled datasets for non-English videos. We addressed this by leveraging manual labeling, translations, and approximations to ensure accuracy. Looking ahead, our system is designed to scale, allowing for future expansions based on user demand.

Can you explain what happens behind the scenes when a user searches with the Video Categories filter?

Video categorization is not a real-time process. When new videos appear on social media, we first detect and collect them into our system. These videos are then processed in batches, where our models analyze and assign categories. When a user searches with the Video Categories filter, the system retrieves these precomputed category assignments from our database and applies the requested filters. This process remains consistent across all supported languages.

How does AI ensure accurate classification across different languages?

We use machine learning to embed video information into context vectors that capture the semantic meaning of the content. These vectors are then processed by our classifier, which assigns them to a structured taxonomy. This approach ensures accuracy and consistency, because AI excels at understanding nuances and context, leading to precise categorization.

Essentially, we’re leveraging AI’s multilingual capabilities to make sense of video content globally. With a 360° view of the social video ecosystem, marketers and media companies can easily understand shifts in content trends and audience behaviors. 

What were the biggest challenges in expanding video categorization to multiple languages?

The primary challenge was the lack of training and validation data for non-English content. To overcome this, we used two key strategies:

1. Multilingual LLMs: No matter what language is used in a video, the system organizes and categorizes it consistently, so that global media companies and brands can analyze video trends without language barriers. 
2. Transfer Learnings from English Data: Our classifier was initially trained on English-only examples. By applying it to non-English videos, we ensured classification quality remained high while minimizing distributional differences.

We also validate these assumptions to ensure accuracy, maintaining our high standards across all language offerings so that brands, agencies, and media creators can confidently identify the right trends and influencers, and optimize campaigns for global engagement without the risk of misleading data.

How did customer feedback influence this feature update?

Customer feedback is the driving factor and biggest point of inspiration for all Tubular product updates. It’s truly invaluable to us. We collect and prioritize customer feedback through our customer-facing teams, ensuring the most impactful insights are addressed. However, integrating feedback into video categorization is complex due to the number of use cases and touchpoints involved. To handle this, we have several strategies working at once. 

First, we have a dedicated metadata operations team that refines our taxonomy based on industry trends and client need. Then, we rely on ongoing quality monitoring and validation processes that refine our categorization accuracy. And lastly, we have a system of manual overrides for fine-tuning model assignments when needed.

Looking ahead, how does Tubular plan to expand the multi-language categorization feature?

This is just the beginning! Our next major goal is to refine topics and keywords using large language models. Unlike categories, which serve as broad filters, topics and keywords provide deeper insights, allowing clients to:

• Identify emerging trends.
• Track specific creators and influencers.
• Cluster related videos to understand audience preferences.
• Analyze themes and conversations in greater detail.

Imagine using these multi-language patterns to tap into emerging markets and expand your reach—that’s where we’re headed!

Our vision is to provide the most comprehensive global social video intelligence, empowering our users to harness the full potential of social video across the world’s most widely spoken languages. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Interested in exploring our new video categories languages? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or request a demo here to get started. 

The post In Conversation with Tubular Engineers: Enhancing Social Video Categorization with New Languages appeared first on Tubular Labs.

Social platforms continue to redefine how audiences engage with entertainment, sports, and politics. From record-breaking videos at the Golden Globes to the political drama leading up to the 2025 inauguration of the US president, this blog explores topics that captured millions of views and sparked conversations around the world.

Dive in as we break down the biggest trends, viral moments, and innovative strategies shaping the social media ecosystem and how you can leverage them to continue adjusting your strategy to meet your audiences where they are.

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Entertainment: Golden Globes Highlights That Captivated the Internet

The Golden Globes never fail to create moments that dominate social media feeds, and this year was no exception. From emotional speeches to jaw-dropping fashion, here’s a breakdown of the most captivating social content from the week following the event.

Most-Watched & Most-Engaging Video: Zoe Saldaña’s Standout Acceptance Speech

The top video of Golden Globes social content was posted to TikTok by Entertainment Tonight, featuring Zoe Saldaña’s emotional acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress—her first-ever Golden Globe win. This heartfelt moment resonated deeply with audiences, racking up a staggering 34M views and 4.4M engagements within just two days. Watch the video here.

Zendaya’s Engagement News Makes Headlines

Zendaya (once again) proved to be a social media powerhouse. In the week following the ceremony, three of the top 10 most-viewed videos from the Golden Globes focused on her engagement announcement to Tom Holland. The #2 most-viewed video, posted by HBO’s @streamonmax TikTok account, strategically weighed in on the news by creating a meme that featured her iconic role as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria.

The post layered an image of Zendaya’s engagement ring on the Golden Globes red carpet over a clip of her character, creating a buzzworthy blend of pop culture and entertainment. This is a prime example of how media companies can tap into trending content formats to drive engagement.

@streamonmax

I have never, ever been happier. #GoldenGlobes #Euphoria

♬ original sound – Max

What Content Is Driving the Most Views? 

It’s worth noting that of the red carpet interviews, 38% were hosted by social media influencers. While some posted the interviews to their own personal accounts, other rising social stars partnered with media companies to conduct these interviews. 

Media entities can follow the lead of native social creators by partnering with them to create their social-first red carpet interviews at award shows and other big events. 

Whether it was the heartfelt authenticity of Zoe Saldaña’s speech or the viral strategy behind Zendaya’s engagement content, the Golden Globes proved to be a treasure trove of social video gold.

Sports: NFL’s Big Plays on YouTube 

The NFL garnered 4.7B YouTube views during the 2024 regular season, with the league’s owned channels maintaining a large share of that viewership (the NFL’s main page generated 611M views by itself, not counting individual team pages).

But other creators also drove plenty of eyeballs to NFL content, whether they had game rights or not…

YouTube Insights from the 2024 NFL Season:

→ ESPN saw NFL-related videos on its main page generate 95.8M views.

→ Pat McAfee, ESPN personality, delivered 94.7M views himself.

→ Four of the five most-viewed NFL videos were uploaded by independent creators.

→ Only six of the top 50 most-viewed videos ran longer than one minute.

→ Individual creators like D1 Kuumo, Splashe NFL, and Hangtime NFL sparked 80M+ views by honing in on #Shorts and other fan-focused content that made them go-to voices of the 2024 season.

YouTube #Shorts Success

Success with shorts isn’t just limited to individual creators; various teams and NFL media partners found ways to engage with shorter content as well. The most popular among those Shorts was a video featuring Houston Texans’ mascot Toro hitting a Dallas Cowboys logo made of rice before the cross-state rivals met on the field.

This kid-centric spin on sporting events shows how brands and media companies can weigh in on large-scale events and topics from outside their vertical. 

Politics: The Road to the 2025 Inauguration

Of the 10 most-viewed videos about the US presidential inauguration prior to January 20th, Inauguration Day, six were related to Trump’s hush money sentencing, one featured the warning Trump made to Hamas in 2024 regarding the release of the hostages, and three discussed worries about the security of Trump and other US leaders at events leading up to the inauguration.

The most engaging Instagram video ahead of the inauguration featured Trump discussing his plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

Top 5 Most-Viewed Media Creators Covering the Run-Up to the 2025 US Presidential Inauguration

January 1-15, 2025

YouTube

By looking at how other media companies are achieving success on specific social platforms, creators can adopt a competitive strategy to gain traction across platforms. 

Daily Mail has consistently leaned into TikTok videos and content trends to connect to younger audiences. Many of their videos feature a reporter with a face-to-camera format, presenting news in a social influencer style. 

TikTok

Facebook

Unlike other platforms, pop-culture talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel and The View are popular on Facebook.

The political landscape has and will continue to shape how media organizations and influencers connect with social audiences on a global scale. These trends underline the evolving role of digital platforms in amplifying key political moments.

From the glitz of the Golden Globes to the ever-polarizing world of politics—social video continues to be the beating heart of global conversations. As these platforms evolve, they remain a powerful tool for capturing and creating cultural moments, amplifying voices, and staying connected to your audiences across the globe. 

If you’re interested in exploring insights like these for yourself, click here to start.

The post Starting Strong in 2025: Entertainment, Sports & Politics on Social appeared first on Tubular Labs.

2024 wasn’t just another year in the social media landscape—it was a year of reinvention, where the stories we consumed and the platforms we frequented became an even greater reflection of who we are. 

From influencers and sports to music and politics, audiences turned to social to find connection, purpose, and meaning.

Let’s dive into the moments, creators, and strategies that shaped a remarkable year in social video.

CHARTBEAT X TUBULAR

Top 100 Most Engaging Stories on Site & Social in 2024

Joining forces with our partners at Chartbeat, we are able to track the biggest headlines and stories that captured audiences’ attention in 2024. Check out the themes and overarching narratives that ruled social media, as well as the most engaging news articles of the year.

INFLUENCERS

From Tabloids to TikTok: The Evolution of Breakup Scandals

For decades, tabloids and magazines have made major sales off celebrity breakup scandals. It’s a PR stunt as old as time. And yet we’re currently witnessing an evolution in the way audiences digest and interact with high-interest breakups thanks to social media influencers. 

In February 2024, an unknown TikToker who goes by @ReesaTeesa posted a 52-part series describing the juicy details of her tumultuous relationship with a con man. The series coined “Who the F* Did I Marry?” went viral and had audiences glued to their phones for hours, savoring each second of her lengthy 10-minute videos. 

She gained 3.4M followers in just two months and accumulated 629M views and 41M engagements. At her peak, she earned 94M TikTok views in a single day. What catapulted Reesa Teesa to overnight success was her unprecedented docuseries-style videos.

Could a feud between famous TikTokers be our modern day Angelina Jolie vs. Jennifer Anniston? 

While no one will ever be able to top their drama over Brad Pitt, influencers Halley Kate and Sophia La Corte erupted in the summer of 2024 when Sophia revealed details of her brief romantic encounter with the boyfriend of beloved Halley Kate. 

In the last week of August alone, Sophia earned over 100M TikTok views. Sophia quickly fell into the villain role with audiences and creators running to Halley’s defense. The social platform was buzzing with user generated content, and many questioned if the entire thing was a publicity stunt. 

Sophia La Corte shot back at her critics by creating TikTok soundtracks using their negative remarks and gossip. Those TikTok sounds caught fire and have been used in other creators’ videos over 2,000 times, accumulating 117 million views in the last 6 months of 2024. 

CELEBRITIES VS. INFLUENCERS

Looking at TikTok engagements per video on coverage of celebrity breakups and influencer breakup stories, it’s clear that audiences are much more engaged with the influencers they know and love. 

So, what do influencer breakup series have that celeb scandals don’t? It’s the inside scoop. The up-close-and-personal. The first-hand accounts often involve several popular influencers banding together or feuding against each other.  

Media companies and brands should watch for influencers who are going through breakup scandals. Partnering with those creators or even creating videos surrounding those series can fuel viewership and engagement. 

Moreover, these breakup scandals tend to increase followers because they are often a series of videos spread out over days, weeks, or months. Creating an engaging series is the best way to gain loyal followers because it creates a reason for a viewer to come back and follow along. Whether it’s “traveling around Asia in 30 days” or “completing the 75 Hard Challenge”, these social series hook people like a suspenseful television show and promote longevity and loyalty.

POLITICS

The U.S. Presidential Race Rolled Out on Social Media

The 2024 U.S. presidential race ignited massive social media discussions, with candidates dominating YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram alike. Here’s a breakdown of the key moments that defined the digital conversation:

The Impact of the First Presidential Debate

Viewership surged following the first U.S. Presidential debate, with YouTube views on Trump increasing by 160% and Biden seeing an even sharper rise of 186% in the same week. This spike, fueled by heated discussions over policy and leadership, reflected widespread public scrutiny of Biden’s ability to secure reelection. The debate led to 250 million YouTube views in the following three weeks, peaking after Biden’s pivotal NATO address on July 9th.

Soon after the debate, Kamala Harris entered the race. Within the first week of her nomination, Harris’s TikTok engagements reached 27 million.

The Abortion Debate Played Out Online

The overturning of Roe v. Wade continued to dominate political discourse in 2024. Social video data revealed a strong leaning towards pro-choice content, with a 10-month average of 25% audience overlap between those watching abortion-related content and those watching pro-choice content, compared to just 9.3% overlap for pro-life content. Moments like February’s protests and June’s legislative battles drove spikes in audience engagement.

Trump Assassination Attempt Captured Global Attention 

Pop Culture Crossovers Drive Candidate Buzz

Candidates leaned into pop culture platforms to amplify their messages. Trump’s official episode of The Joe Rogan Experience racked up 40 million YouTube views in just four days, while Kamala Harris’s Call Her Daddy interview lit up discussion on TikTok, generating 75 million views from user generated content. These unconventional outlets allowed candidates to connect with younger, more diverse audiences in the lead-up to Election Day.

The 2024 race was a masterclass in how social media amplifies political moments, shaping narratives and engaging millions of viewers in real-time. For a deeper breakdown of this year’s U.S. presidential election, view Tubular & Chartbeat’s Election HQ.

Worldwide Elections Make Global News

Conflict Erupts in Venezuela 

When news broke of the political unrest in Venezuela following the presidential election, Tubular data revealed a major spike in UGC from people protesting within the country and speaking out on social media. TikTok engagements with content about Maduro after the election reached over 39M in a single day.

Mexico Makes History by Electing Its First Female President 

Mexico was destined to make history regardless of who won this race—because both candidates were female. Across social media, Galvez led with more views, but on TikTok specifically, Sheinbaum led with higher engagement.

The Conflict Between Israel & Palestine on Social Media 

It’s interesting to note, only 2 of the top 10 media publishers with the most engagement on Israel/Palestine Instagram content were based in the U.S.–CNN and The New York Times.

The Most Viewed Videos About the Israel & Palestine Conflict on Social Media in 2024

SPORTS

2024: Breaking Records & Shaping New Narratives

2024 was a landmark year for sports, where social media played a pivotal role in amplifying global games and offering new viewing experiences for audiences. Here’s a snapshot of the year’s biggest stories:

Women’s Sports Break Records & Take Center Stage

Basketball: 

The U.S. Women’s College Basketball National Championship shattered records in April, outpacing the Men’s Championship in views for the first time ever. The game generated over 93.9 million social views within a week, marking a historic moment for women’s sports. 

Basketball player Caitlin Clark continued her meteoric rise, with her viewership increasing 160% across social platforms since 2023. Meanwhile, the WNBA Draft showcased its growing appeal, drawing 395 million views in April—an impressive 58% of the 2024 NFL Draft’s viewership.

Soccer:

On TikTok, women’s soccer content averages a 26% higher engagement rate within the first 7 days of publishing than men’s soccer content. Even though women’s soccer/football might be a smaller piece of the viewership pie, we see that women’s soccer audiences tend to be more engaged on social.

Here are the top ten most viewed media publishers for women’s soccer content on TikTok:

NFL’s Social Strategy: Celebrities & Influencers Drive Engagement

This year, the NFL embraced the power of celebrity and influencer culture to expand its reach. The Super Bowl LVIII gained a 7% increase in viewership compared to 2023 and many speculated it could have been driven by Taylor Swift’s attendance, so we looked at Tubular data to find out. 

Looking at Super Bowl content vs. Swift-related Super Bowl content, we found her influence was undeniable, contributing to 17% of YouTube’s overall Super Bowl views and 22% of TikTok’s overall Super Bowl views.

While Swift’s massive influence certainly drove new audiences to the NFL, several social media influencers also contributed to their husband’s or boyfriend’s viewership. The romance between TikTok beauty influencer Alix Earle and NFL player Braxton Berrios turned heads, as Earle’s shared audience with the NFL grew from 15% in September 2023 to 25% by February 2024. The NFL has grown this shared audience by posting videos and photos of the influencer and even inviting her to present at the NFL Honors ceremony. 

The Paris Olympics: A Blend of Legacy and Innovation

The 2024 Paris Olympics brought a mix of iconic performances and innovative content strategies. Simone Biles rewrote history, proving once again why she’s a global legend. At 27, her awe-inspiring routines captivated fans, earning her the title of the most decorated American gymnast in history. In the month of August 2024, Simone scored over 1B TikTok views.

Peacock became the #5 cross-platform creator uploading content about the 2024 Olympics. They achieved this in part by partnering with influencers like Alex Cooper from the “Watch with Alex Cooper” show, which combined interviews with fans and celebrities. Cooper’s expansive social reach helped drive viewers to Peacock.

MUSIC

Genre-Bending & Viral Feuds Dominate

2024 will forever be the year country and hip-hop music collided. And the industry’s biggest rappers feuded and created major buzz on social.

Kendrick vs. Drake Feud Drives Viewership

The feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake shaped their 2024 narratives, fueling fan debates and driving engagement across platforms. Kendrick had a monumental year on social video, highlighted by the release of Euphoria, which earned 5.5M YouTube views on its first day and contributed to Kendrick’s 47.8M YouTube views during its debut week. Standout tracks Not Like Us and Meet the Grahams contributed 16.3M and 15.1M views, respectively, with Not Like Us becoming his top-performing video of the year with 183M views by November.

While Drake’s viewership remained steady, Kendrick’s spikes showcased the audience’s appetite for his storytelling and artistry. Their rivalry kept fans captivated and elevated both artists in a year where attention was the ultimate currency.

Key Takeaways from 2024—and Beyond

As we close the book on 2024, it’s clear the way we consume content and interact with stories continues to evolve. Authenticity, relatability, and the power of series-based storytelling have reigned supreme, driving views, engagement, and loyalty across platforms. From presidential pop culture collaborations to sports leagues leveraging influencer power, this year has proven the lines between entertainment, politics, and personal narratives are more blurred than ever.

For brands, creators, and media companies, the lessons are clear: lean into human stories, embrace emerging trends, and don’t be afraid to experiment with formats or collaborations. The social video landscape is a playground of possibility—and those who adapt will not only thrive but shape the future of storytelling. Here’s to 2025 and the stories yet to be told.

The post Trending in 2024: Stories That Defined the Year on Social Media appeared first on Tubular Labs.

The holiday shopping season is already in full swing, especially with just 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. And with so much noise from brands and publishers around what to buy, there’s a premium on attention across all screens.

Still, understanding key social video insights and consumer behaviors can help cut through the noise during the busy holiday season. Below, we take a look at our top tips to make an impact with holiday shoppers via social video.

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Show Consumers What They Want

Some of the top US TikTok clothing trends right now are to the point: #christmasoutfit and #thanksgivingoutfit have both gained significant engagement velocity in the last 30 days, in part by speaking directly to what consumers are looking for.

While consumers still search for broader content around shopping and clothing at this time of year, these are popular topics during the holidays. Apparel brands can publish content (and partner with creators) to target the “why” for consumers and quickly move into the sales funnel.

You see this even more directly from brands like Amazon. Along with the aforementioned trends, #AmazonJackets is also a top clothing trend on TikTok right now. The topic is direct and undoubtedly leads right to ways in which viewers can buy a jacket from Amazon.

Choose the Right Creator Partner

Individual creators have accounted for 89% of US YouTube views in the first 8 days of November, a trend unlikely to slow. Despite the success of many creators, brand partners are looking to avoid becoming white noise in a sea of posts.

For instance, the top six US YouTube creators in November thus far (through Nov. 8) have all published 20 or more videos. A single-video partnership may generate a solid bump for a brand working with any one of those successful individuals. However, there’s also a high likelihood that a single-video partnership fades into the background quickly with some of these creators publishing hundreds (!!!) of YouTube videos per month.

Diving deeper into audience make up, views, and engagements per video, publishers can unearth the right fit and the most likely partner to reach their intended audiences. 

For example, on the high end, MrBeast is generating the most views per video (73.1 million) and engagements per video (3.1 million) of any US creator so far in November. Elsewhere, other creators are still generating hundreds of thousands of engagements per video, and may be able to partner for a lower rate.

Find The Shoppers You Want, Where You Want Them

For instance, Erin Degan was the top beauty creator by unique US viewers, with 12.5 million viewers. She is based domestically, as are the next four creators by unique US viewers. But No. 6 is Barber Maestros, who’s based in Brazil. A basic look at US creators wouldn’t surface Barber Maestros as a partner opportunity. 

Digging even deeper, brands can determine which beauty creators reach the largest number of US female viewers aged 13 to 24. That list changes even more. While Erin Degan remains No. 1, Emma Grace and Lucy Seitz rise, and MissDarcei (from Canada) comes up at No. 4 with the specified audience.

Know What Specific Shoppers Are Actually Watching

Understanding these video behaviors saves dollars and prevents blending into a competitive background by identifying areas where partnerships can stand out.

The post How To Reach Holiday Shoppers Through Social Video appeared first on Tubular Labs.