These were the biggest social media trends of 2024

The year 2024 had a lot to offer in terms of viral trends and social media phenomena. At the beginning of the year, it was Sophie Ellis-Bextor's (45) hit “Murder on the Dancefloor”, released in 2001, that once again experienced its peak. True to the famous scene by Barry Keoghan (32) in the Amazon Prime hit “Saltburn”, young and old danced to the song and filmed themselves doing it. But other songs also shaped the social media landscape: among them was the song “Made for Me”, whose famous lines “Nobody knows me like you do. Nobody will love me quite like you” – in German: “ “Nobody knows me as well as you. Nobody will love me as you do” – which encouraged TikTok users to sing.

In German-speaking countries, it was primarily Shirin David (29) who set the bodies in motion. The rapper's song “Bauch Beine Po”, released in July 2024, established itself as the summer hit of the year. Afterwards, the listeners not only felt like doing a round of Pilates, but also wanted a delicious iced matcha latte Shirin mentioned in their chorus. In addition to music, the influencer world was also a topic of conversation. The model Nara Smith in particular attracted a lot of attention with her original cooking videos. The married couple Campbell and Jett Puckett, known by the username campbellhuntpuckett, also became a community favorite through loving videos. Jett's nickname Pookie, which he uses to refer to his wife in their shared TikToks, quickly became a running gag on the platform and caused countless parodies.

But it wasn't just these viral couples or musical catchy tunes that shaped the past year. Humorous campaigns like the “Gen Z Marketing Script,” in which brands and companies used youth language in a tongue-in-cheek manner, brought a new lightness to the social media world. Whether it's book chains, videos made with slang vocabulary, or clips of football stars like Florian Wirtz (21), who evaluated potato varieties: Everyday life literally became a stage.