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YouTube Highlights 'Analog Horror' As A New Trend

YouTube has begun to share a monthly newsletter that highlights trends and news on the site. The data could help marketers and advertisers strategize for campaigns, messages, and targeting to visitors.

Although October is not around the corner, there has been an increase in spooky content posted to YouTube. Google’s streaming video platform calls it “analog horror,” referring to a genre of horror content that uses vintage media effects from TV broadcasts, VHS tapes, and old films to enhance stories.

Analog horror gained popularity through projects like Local 58, The Mandela Catalogue, and The Backrooms, which became one of the top trending videos of 2022.

These were all long-form series, but the most recent demonstration of analog horror is doppelganger Shorts, per Jala Tucker, Google communications and public affairs associate.

In this segment, creators record “their evil body doubles to bring mystery and eeriness,” using audio from the Mandela Catalogue and Sirens.  

Creators, through this method, have found interesting ways to interpret an already well-loved genre. It allows for new content trends and meets varying audience needs and interests across formats. 

Majorette dancing is another trend that popped up on YouTube in April. The dancing is modeled on majorettes. While majorette choreography is typically associated with marching bands, it has become a recurring inspiration for recent dance challenges such as Beyonce’s Upgrade U.

“Majorettes show us that creative inspiration comes from spaces beyond the expected sources, which in this case would be artist videos and fan accounts,” Tucker wrote. “Looking beyond typical places of inspiration into other areas, such as marching bands for a dance trend, can bring about something fresh that audiences gravitate towards due to their uniqueness.”

Textured and curly hair isn’t the easiest to take care of daily. Wash day routine videos detail the unique techniques, products, and tools used bya variety of people. The U.S. represents the most viewership for this trend, followed by India, Turkey, and Great Britain, as Creators and viewers around the world are able to bond over the time, patience, and effort textured hair requires.

While older wash day videos focused on hairstyling, today's videos focus on health and wellness. Tucker calls this a broader phenomenon that's increasing in popularity on YouTube. In fact, daily views of videos related to the topic of self-care have increased 50% in the first three months of 2023 from the last 3 months of 2022.

Beauty content has always been a staple on YouTube, but in April content few for videos focused on nail art, where fingernails are enhanced and styled with various art techniques and accessories. These videos garnered more than 5 billion views globally last year.

On YouTube, the nail art creator community is diverse and has seen massive success by tapping into cultural moments such as the World Cup and popular soundtracks, even pranks. With Nail Day coming up on May 5, Tucker expects content for this topic to “swell.”

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