Hello. Here’s our hot take: You’ve probably seen your fair share of ‘in’ and ‘out’ lists for 2024. Well, here’s one of mine, in 2024 DIY is in. On TikTok and Instagram, I keep seeing scrapbooks, customizable charm necklaces, custom-made journals, and zines. DIY and punk have a long history together so this rise of less polished DIY content feels exactly right for Gen Z. Especially when considering the appeal of slow fashion and deinfluencing. Goodbye random garbage, hello personalized creations!
🎵 Top Sounds 🎵
Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok
This sound feels very Barbie (2023) to me. It isn’t but it should’ve been.
This is trending because of Saltburn but it’s a bop regardless. The best thing in Saltburn? The soundtrack (even if it is a little anachronistic).
An Unnatural Allegiance To Losers 😒
Katt Williams didn’t just burn bridges, he went scorched earth and shaded every comedian in existence. This sound is frankly perfect.
Speaking of bridges, influencers keep using this sound in London. But none of them seem to understand they’re not on London Bridge (the most boring of London’s bridges imo).
The coquette girls are responsible for this one. Use this sound for any sad-girl content you might have planned.
🔉 Our Sound Highlight 🔉
👏 Receipts 👏 Proof 👏 Timeline 👏Screenshots 👏
Mood: 😤
When you know you have all the evidence ready use this sound.
🌟Trend Highlight 🌟
The Kelley Osborne Trend
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This wildly racist statement of Kelly Osborne’s which was intended as a disagreement with Trump’s immigration policies has gone viral again. Except now, people on TikTok are using the structure of a problematic and generalized statement in defense of a group to crack (much less problematic) jokes. As ever, it helps when creators are a part of the group they’re mentioning.
💫 Post Highlight 💫
KQED’s account strikes just the right balance between sincerity and information. This video focused on the librarian @mychal3ts, who recently went viral, doesn’t lean into his virality— it’s substantive and brief. Want to learn more? They plug the podcast interview seamlessly and the video gives you a sense of tone.
☕ The Zeitgeist ☕
Hot topics and discourse from across the internet
A pop tart was sacrificially lowered into a toaster because unhinged is the ‘new’ way to market. At least ‘new’ if you don’t count the days of the Denny’s Tumblr account.
We need to be free of ‘traditional femininity’ creators like the TikTok bride who criticized the ‘immodest wedding dress trend.’ The uptick in conservative trad accounts isn’t something choice feminism can fix and it’s worth being concerned.
The silver lining: at least the parody posts were good.
Don’t go in the bog like these guys. The bog is an eldritch power. Do not go in the bog.
Everyone is concerned about Gen Z on TikTok and while misinformation is rampant across all platforms, it betrays a deep misunderstanding of Gen Z, decades of political trends, and TikTok itself.
RHOSLC had a wild finale and gave us a new meme (highlighted in our top sounds list).
🥡 The Takeaway 🥡
What marketers are taking away from trends.
If you’re building a strategy for 2024 for your organization’s TikTok page, don’t rely on trending sounds. The importance of sounds has been in a steady decline for a while. I even covered TikTok pulling back on sound-based trends and investing in long-form content a year ago. TikTok is still pushing sounds, and we’re still highlighting them, but they’re becoming less relevant to account strategy. An account that doesn’t produce minute-long content is an account that’s going to struggle given the current algorithm. Sounds remain important to TikTok and the music industry, with the TikTok Billboard chart debuting last year, but an account can’t grow just by using trending sounds. Growing in 2024 on TikTok calls for a commitment to original concepts, storytelling, and an understanding of wider culture.