YouTube also unveiled its list of top trending creators of 2024 in India. (Image credit: YouTube)
As the year draws to a close, YouTube has released its list of trending topics of 2024 with the ICC T20 World Cup and “Ambani wedding” being identified as some of the top “cultural moments” that unfolded on the platform this year.
While content related to the World Cup amassed over seven billion views on YouTube, videos with “Ambani” and “Wedding” in the title received over 6.5 billion views in India, the company said.
Viewer engagement around the high-profile event included dissecting international artist acts, analysing fashion outfits, and discussing the star-studded guest list. “Fans were actively shaping these narratives through their own creator contributions to make a significant trend into a super hit trend,” said Ajay Vidyasagar, Asia-Pacific regional director at YouTube, in a virtual media briefing held on Thursday, December 5.
The list was drawn up by YouTube’s Culture and Trends team after analysing a variety of signals including views, uploads, and creator activity.
Vidyasagar highlighted the “Moye Moye” Shorts on YouTube, which amassed 4.5 billion views, as an example of how trends influenced Gen Z vocabulary in India. “This demonstrates how trends on the platform don’t just disappear, they are reinterpreted and reimagined to be integrated into our everyday lingo,” he said.
The Alphabet-owned company also unveiled its list of top trending creators of 2024 in India with Jimmy Donaldson, the American YouTuber known as “MrBeast,” bagging the first place. His growing popularity and appeal to Indian users can be attributed to the Hindi-dubbed versions of his videos as well as his collaborations with local creators such as Ajey Nagar or “Carryminati”.
YouTube also revealed that videos related to stand-up comedian Samay Raina were watched 1.5 billion times in 2024 while Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s videos racked up over 3.9 billion views.
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Content by hyperlocal creators such as Malayalam YouTuber “KL Bro Biju” and Marathi song Gulabi Sadi being used in three million Shorts globally, indicate that YouTube trends surpassed geographic limits this year, the company said.
Creators posting on niche topics such as “Box of Vengeance,” who reviews sports balls, also emerged as a fan-favourite this year.
Fan communities on YouTube played a major role in boosting engagement of creator content. For instance, Indian gaming streamer Total Gaming, also known as “Ajjubhai,” was able to grow his audience with a face reveal video for his 37 million-strong fan base––called “Ajjubhai Army”––that garnered 35 million views. His watch-along gameplays collected over 900 million views in 2024, YouTube said.
Overall, YouTube emphasised that content was made trending by users who leaned in and expressed on top of it. “Indian fans weren’t just viewers; they were co-creators, shaping the narratives and driving the conversation. They are no more one-sided recipients of content who are confined to schedules,” Vidyasagar said, adding that Indian users of YouTube have become screen-agnostic, time-agnostic, and format-agnostic.
