Year on TikTok 2023 is here: From Girl Dinner to our Roman Empire

Published Dec 6th, 2023 8:00AM EST

Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images

After the music recaps from Deezer, Spotify, and Apple Music, TikTok joins the trend by recapping the past year on the platform. As expected, 2023 was marked by the culinary delicacies known as Girl Dinner and why people couldn’t stop thinking about the Roman Empire.

“Year on TikTok 2023 is a way for us to honor some of the standout moments that have happened on TikTok throughout the year. It’s a window into stories that have inspired, entertained, and educated over 1 billion people around the world. Thank you for another year of bringing joy to our community and sharing your creativity with us,” said Adam Presser, Head of Operations at TikTok.

The Year on Tiktok 2023 is here. These are the highlights:

#ForYou Faves

This section shows the trending content that took over For You feeds.

1. @dollievision: A simple and stunning makeup routine.
2. @justinflom: An Iron Man DIY worthy of its own world premiere.
3. @through.the.lleaves: The biggest kitten ever seen.
4. @selenagomez: The relatable pre-flight routine we’ll all be adopting.
5. @chrishoffish: When you sound this good, the world (or a parking garage) is your stage.

The Playlist

This section shows pop tunes and comeback tracks made in the year of TikTok, highlighting sped-up songs as the ones people love the most.

1. “Collide (more sped up)” – Justine Skye: TikTok continues to demonstrate its power to
   breathe new life into older releases with Justin Skye’s “Collide”.
2. “Cupid – Twin Ver – Sped Up Version” – FIFTY FIFTY: Capitalizing on the TikTok
   audience’s affinity for sped-up songs, this version of “Cupid” was popular across the
   board as a backing track to food tutorials, outfit picks, and more.
3. “Her Way (Sped Up)” – PARTYNEXTDOOR: A simple movement paired with a sped-up
   track is sometimes all that’s needed to revive an old song and give it new life.
4. “Favorite Song – Sped Up” – Toosii: In 2023, Toosii put on a masterclass on how to use
   TikTok to promote a song. Through interacting with fans and recreating trends, “Favorite
   Song” landed on the Billboard Hot 100.
5. “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” – PinkPanthress & Ice Spice: This hit took off on the platform,
   primarily thanks to people filming their dogs grooving to the track while wearing
   headphones.

The Hitmakers

Artists and songwriters who come together to propel tracks and trends at the speed of culture are the hitmakers in the Year of TikTok 2023:

1. Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)
2. Natalie Jane (@nataliejanesings)
3. Ice Spice (@icespicee)
4. Meghan Trainor (@meghantrainor)
5. Ariana Grande (@arianagrande)

Only on TikTok

This section highlights the creativity of TikTok users, which, to date, has created over 25 billion using community effects.

1. Girl Dinner
2. Acting like you’re in a Wes Anderson film
3. Learning our red, green, and beige flags
4. “Where’s My Dad?”
5. Thank You To My Man

Real-Time Rewind

From rocking out to “Planet of the Bass” to finding new ways to enjoy a McDonald’s Grimace Shake, TikTok brought people together to experience unique moments that helped shape culture in 2023.

1. Front row (on TikTok): The TikTok community gave us front-row access to this year’s
   hottest tours featuring pop stars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter and
   Paramore.
2. How often do you think about the Roman Empire?: A simple question to one man
   shocked many about how often people think about the Roman Empire in their everyday
   lives.
3. McDonald’s Grimace Shake: A milkshake honoring one of the company’s iconic mascots
   took on a life of its own as creators added their own HorrorTok spin on the Grimace
   Shake.
4. Planet of the Bass: Inspired by 90’s Euro Dance music, Kyle Gordon parodied the sound
   with his meaningless lyrics and hypnotic production to create a track landed him some
   superstar superfans, including the Jonas Brothers who invited him to open for their tour
   in August.
5. The Year of the Girl: Trends and movements like girl dinner, rat girl and tomato girl
   summers, hot girl walks, and the girlhood trend set to Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made
   For” from Barbie helped define the year and usher in the ‘girl-aisssance’.

This article talks about:

TikTok

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.