How fandom is driving culture on YouTube
+a guide on finding your target audience and the cultural moments | news that caught our attention this week
quick summary ⚡️
The latest trends uncovered by YouTube
A profile of Ballerina Farm, the Harris campaign is embracing meme culture and more in the cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week
3 major shifts in the creator economy
The power of manifestation
breaking down YouTube’s latest culture & trends report
YouTube recently released their annual trend report, breaking down how “fans have shifted from consumers to creators - and how they brought viewers along with them.”
“With YouTube being such an established platform and culture always drawn to the new cool shiny, it's easy to lose sight of the force and function YouTube plays. This research served to remind me just how essential YouTube is to Gen Z when it comes to exploring and expressing their fandom. There's a reason all but one of Kendrick and Drake's diss tracks were posted on YouTube first! YouTube continues to be at the epicenter of culture and I love that we get to be a part of people's fanship!”
- Kaley Mullin, YouTube and Trends Insights Lead @ YouTube
At the top, let’s establish what “fandom” actually is. Fandom refers to the relationship between an individual who is the object of their fandom. And now, YouTube is tracking how fan’s relationships with their favorite creators, artists, etc. are changing as technology and digital platforms evolve.
“Fans aren’t just consuming their favorite content anymore — they’re actively in conversation with it – creating their own videos to showcase their devotion to the source material and to strengthen bonds with other fans.”
Through the rise of memes, video essays, commentary, explainer videos and fan art, fan content is building its own fans.
This is particularly big among GenZ, with 21% of the generation considering themselves “super fans.”
Fandoms can come in all shapes and sizes, from the massive community of Swifties, to more niche groups.
“@11foot8plus8 is a channel focused on a single bridge in North Carolina and the 183 (as of May 2024) trucks that have scraped spectacularly under its lowhanging overpass. Its small community of 300k subscribers live nowhere near that bridge and likely have never met, but the camaraderie of the channel’s comment section allows them to come together.”
Now creators are taking their knowledge of fan and digital platform dynamics to create powerful fandoms of their own. One example highlighted is The Amazing Digital Circus from YouTube creator @GLITCH…
“Released last fall, the pilot of GLITCH and Gooseworx’s animated dark comedy quickly racked up over 300 million views. But the show’s fandom grew even faster. During the six months between the first and second episodes, fan content related to TADC, from songs to memes, accrued over 25 billion views.”
And if you’re a brand, this includes you too with 74% of GenZ fans surveyed agreeing that they like seeing brands engage with things their a fan of.
McDonalds tapped into this with the infamous Grimace Shake, encouraging fans to create Shorts trends, resulting in them being the #2 trending topic of 2023.
“To reap the benefits of fan culture, creators and producers will have to be responsive to it. And those who will benefit the most are those who remove rather than impose obstacles to fan creativity.”
Here’s what all of this means to you, whether your a creator, individual or brand:
Closely follow what your fans are creating to get a better idea of what your audience is and isn’t responding to in your own content.
Your fans are going to play with your content anyway; you may as well use it as an opportunity to strengthen your connection to your audience.
Be responsive to what your fans are passionate about and highlight the things you’re passionate about, even when it isn’t directly related to your own content.
Don’t be afraid to lean into new and unfamiliar phenomena that people are becoming fans of. Today’s niche can be tomorrow’s mainstream.
Huge shoutout to friends of MTD Kaley Mullin and Megan Collins for their brilliant work on this report.
more from the YouTube Culture & Trends Report here
💎cultural gems💎
The cultural moments and news that caught our attention this week:
MEET THE QUEEN OF THE ‘TRAD WIVES’ (AND HER EIGHT CHILDREN), the times
“My goal was New York City. I left home at 17 and I was so excited to get there, I just loved that energy. And I was going to be a ballerina. I was a good ballerina. But I knew that when I started to have kids my life would start to look different.”
You can find our breakdown of Ballerina Farm on the MTD blog
HOW KAMALA HARRIS BECAME PART OF CHARLI XCX’S ‘BRAT’ SUMMER, nbc news
The Harris campaign is tapping GenZs by embracing meme culture.
THE WIDENING GAP BETWEEN INFLUENCERS AND CREATORS, business of fashion
“While many ordinary users of social media use the terms influencer and creator interchangeably, the differences between the two are becoming increasingly apparent. While creators draw Gen-Z viewers to TikTok and Instagram with entertaining content, it’s often influencers who complete the sale, convincing their followers to actually buy products.”
HOW LOVE ISLAND USA BECAME THE SUMMER’S MOST EXQUISITE TRASH, vox
“There’s a beautiful encounter in episode two of the current season of Love Island USA, where contestant Kordell, pressed repeatedly by his partner Serena to open up about his long-term goals, says that he one day aspires to do sponsorships for Cheez-Its.”
THE WOMAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE DINOSAUR BONES, ny times
Phyllis Kao, an auctioneer at Sotheby’s, was the woman at the helm of a 15-minute bidding war over a stegosaurus fossil that ended up selling for $44.6 million.
the relationship between brands and influencers
While brands are spending big on influencer marketing, it’s still a relatively new phenomenon that’s built on the ever-changing landscape of social media platforms.
Whether or not they’ve meant to, the algorithms of platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and now TikTok have fundamentally changed the nature of advertising forever. Now, in the midst of the shift to short form video content and at the dawn of AI, the only thing we can predict is the inevitably of change.
We’re looking at 3 major shifts that are impacting the relationship between creators and the brands that work with them.
Sponcon —> Sponsperience. Sponsored Content aka “SponCon” has gone from subtle and authentically integrated product placement to very sales-y and labeled pitches. To mitigate this, brands are better served creating longer lasting, deeper and therefore more authentic connections with creators who will actually integrate the product into their lifestyle.
Branded content —> UGC. What’s meant to feel like casual and engaging content ends up being another #ad. This is where user-generated content (UGC) is growing more and more integral for brands who want to maintain an authentic social presence. UGC is more cost-effective than content from influencers and creators with large followings.
AI? As we’ve covered in the past, AI is a tool that, in the long run, is no substitute for human creativity and influence. So while marketers will definitely attempt to allocate some of their creative budget to buzzy tech like AI, there’s simply no substitute for the stamp of approval from a person you trust.
more on the MTD blog
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