YouTube's latest Creative Trend Report evokes a sense of ageing in viewers

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, this year's YouTube Culture and Trends report sheds light on a significant shift in the way today's youth are consuming and creating content. The report highlights a "maximalist moment" shaping our culture, with Creative Maximalism at its heart.

Creative Maximalism, as defined by YouTube, is centred around four main pillars: Audio/Visual Complexity, Narrative Co-creation, Internet-Referential, and Globally Influenced. This style, associated with digital characters like "La Vaca Saturno Saturnita" and memes such as "Tralalero Tralala," is characterised by cosmic absurdity and surreal internet humour.

One of the prime examples of Creative Maximalism is the Skibidi Toilet series of YouTube videos. This absurdist universe follows a war between toilets with human heads and humanoid characters with electronic devices for faces. The design of the report itself mirrors this aesthetic, being loud, low-fi, colorful, and brash.

The report suggests that content is going to get louder and faster, with 60% of 14- to 24-year-olds agreeing that they've picked up habits, traditions, or rituals from online creators. This includes a shift in their sense of personal style (59%), sense of humor (58%), and even their sense of humor (58%).

Narrative Co-creation, another pillar of Creative Maximalism, refers to public-generated, massive, decentralized entertainment properties with immense casts of characters and storylines. This approach to content creation is evident in the vast array of user-generated content on platforms like YouTube.

The rise of short-form video on YouTube has also pushed the author away from Instagram, as the fast-paced, densely layered information of Creative Maximalism content seems to resonate more with the younger demographic.

However, not everyone is jumping on the TikTok bandwagon. The author has been deterred from joining TikTok due to the trends described in the report. Instead, the author prefers a slower-paced activity, such as playing Pokémon in the corner.

The Internet-Referential pillar involves humor and ideas built on layers of online inside jokes. The phrase "brain rot" is being celebrated in the context of Italian brain rot videos, an absurdist universe of surreal internet memes. With more than 450,000 uploads in 2025, these videos are a testament to the influence of Creative Maximalism.

The report also emphasises that today's teens are given the tools to create the content they want to see. This empowerment is shaping the future of content creation and consumption, with Creative Maximalism at its forefront. As we move forward, it will be interesting to see how this trend continues to evolve and impact our culture.