YouTube Recaps the Trends of the Year with “The Shape of 2017”

‘Tis the season to look back on the year and recap the most viral trends and stories of 2017, and what better way to do that than by revisiting YouTube’s most popular videos? The video-streaming juggernaut has released “The Shape of 2017,” this year’s iteration of its annual YouTube Rewind video, rounding up the biggest music, trends, memes and characters from 2017, based on views, shares, comments and likes.

Hundreds of YouTube personalities, viral stars and other celebrities make appearances in the Rewind video. It starts out with Stephen Colbert asking popular internet personalities Lele Pons and Liza Koshy to tell him about 2017, then cuts to different scenes of moments that defined the year. Obviously, fidget spinners make a few appearances throughout, and at some point, the video deviates from its humorous nature to also remind us of the tragedies that occurred this year, such as the many hurricane devastations and the Vegas shooting, communicating a message of uniting together under tumultuous circumstances.

Fittingly, the video’s music mashup, created by The Hood Internet, kicks off with “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber, of which the accompanying visual was also YouTube’s most popular music video of 2017. Overall, it is the most-viewed video in YouTube history, with over four billion views to date. Other year-defining, Grammy-nominated songs that were included in the mashup were Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.”

The award for YouTube’s top trending video of the year goes to one from Thailand called “Until We Will Become Dust – Oyster Mask,” a clip of a performance from a singing competition show called The Mask Singer, in which competitors wear elaborate masks to conceal their identities. This is the fourth time a non-U.S. video has topped the trending list, garnering over 182 million views to date.

As you starting winding down the year, watch “The Shape of 2017” below, and look forward to more viral content come 2018.