YouTube Rewind is a nostalgic past into the lives of teens across the world. Rewind exhibits viral trends from the past year. It features the biggest creators. “YouTube rewind was a compilation of some of the biggest creators on YouTube, as well as viral sensations at the time coming together to sum up that year. It included trends and music that shaped that year.” Sr. Sandra Sann said. 

Trends 

   Trends are the biggest part of Rewind. Some are controversial, but still considered for the yearly recap.  Some trends include the “Harlem Shake:” an internet meme as a video in which a group of people dance to a short excerpt from the song “Harlem Shake.” This trend was featured in YouTube Rewind: Turn Down for 2014. A more controversial trend found in Rewind was the inclusion of Rebecca Black in YouTube Rewind 2011. “What Does the Fox Say?” was a popular song released in 2012. This song sparked the theme of YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say? Trends that appear in YouTube Rewind are nostalgic: you can look back on them, they can be recreated, re-lived, and revived. 

Music

   “The music mashups were always good to reminisce, it had a lot of good feelings,” Sann said. Rewind song mashups credit a lot of famous artists from their years produced. Avicii was known for making EDM (electronic dance music) and many of his songs and mashups were featured in Rewind. Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” was the highlighted song by YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017. “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean?” are two songs written and produced by Justin Bieber spotlighted on YouTube Rewind: The Ultimate 2016 Challenge. Music and trends are very similar in that they can be rediscovered, as teens across the world look back on Rewind, they find songs popular from that year, and feel the nostalgic past. 

Creators

   YouTube Rewind 2011 features arguably one of the most hated musical creators of all time: Rebecca Black. Her strikingly annoying voice is the main event in 2011. Her viral song “Friday” was one of the most disliked songs. Black was still included in the recap even though she was controversial. Kid president is a character portrayed by Robby Novak. Novak teaches many children across the world the importance of kindness, overcoming obstacles, global citizenship, and empowerment. Novak is such an influence even teachers have adopted his teaching methods and are teaching their students how he would. Mind you, Novak is a whopping 11 years old at the time of these videos. Kid President was happily featured in YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say? A lot of teens across the world connect with creators on YouTube. They can relate to the creators and the content they create. If a teen grows out of watching YouTube videos and sees Rewind, they can feel the nostalgia from watching these creators when they were younger. 

Downfall of rewind

   YouTube Rewind 2018: Everyone Controls Rewind was the ultimate downfall of Rewind. This video has an astonishing 18 million dislikes on YouTube, and counting as one of the most disliked YouTube videos produced. Even though the 2018 production received harsh criticism, YouTube still created another one, hoping to give the people what they wanted. YouTube Rewind: For the Record was the final video released by YouTube Rewind. This version has drawn similar criticism for not representing the community well enough. This video has received a little over 9 million dislikes. “I don’t think future generations will look back on YouTube Rewind because of the fact that they’re not made anymore but it may just end up being one of the loopholes one falls in when watching video after video.” Sann said. Rewind has led teens across the world to look back on the trends, music, and creators, and feel the nostalgic past of their childhood.