YouTube is an online video-sharing platform founded in February 2005 by PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion, and it now operates as a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, and share videos, and it has grown into the second-most-visited website globally, boasting over 2.7 billion monthly active users.
2023’s Trending Topics in the US reflect fandom’s increasingly important role in transforming cultural moments into fully immersive phenomena that play out across Shorts, longform, livestreams, and podcasts. From original series like Skibidi Toilet to the release of Barbie, fans came to YouTube to put their personal spins on memes, movies, and more.
Creator communities turned the Grimace Shake into an unexpected piece of analog horror-inspired lore; used Jack Black’s — er Bowser’s — “Peaches” to engage with the Mario universe; found new adventures within the open world of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom; and made Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” a hit with multiple Shorts trends and explorations of easter eggs.
This year’s Trending Topics also include the rise of artificial intelligence, which inspired new challenges and experiments among creators; a must-stream indie horror game; an artist who helped bring Música Mexicana center stage; and the search for authoritative news about Israel Palestine.
Grimace Shake
Israel Palestine
Garten of Banban
Peaches (Bowser/Jack Black)
Peso Pluma
Barbie (2023)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Artificial Intelligence
Skibidi Toilet
Flowers (Miley Cyrus)
Top Creators (US)
Among top creators in the US, MrBeast continued his reign for the fourth consecutive year, but was joined by plenty of fresh faces who found success in multiple verticals, from sketch comedy to sports. These creators saw the greatest growth in US-based subscribers in 2023:
MrBeast
Topper Guild
Zhong
VuxVux
Jeffrey Bui
Ben Azelart
Ian Boggs
JT Casey
Stokes Twins
Pink Shirt Couple
Breakout Creators (US)
Meanwhile, this year’s US Breakout Creator’s list features multiple gaming creators as well as the creator behind the unexpected series of the year. This list features creators who saw the greatest growth in US-based subscribers in 2023, including new creators, as well as existing creators whose subscriber base at least tripled in size compared to subscribers gained in 2022.
JT Casey
Cash
Jeffrey Bui
Armaani
Jake Sweet
Jaden Sprinz
DaFuq!?Boom!
Corey Tonge
Hew Moran
Pink Shirt Couple
Top Songs
Shorts trends helped drive tracks from Toosii and Miley Cyrus to the top, while Música Mexicana had a major year thanks to artists like Peso Pluma and Grupo Frontera.