What is mainstream culture now? YouTube tries to answer that question.

• A new culture and trends report commissioned by YouTube reveals a fracturing of mainstream culture, with young people gravitating towards content creators on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
• Despite the fragmentation of culture, there is a growing intensity of fandom among young people for Hollywood movies and TV shows, with 63% of online 14- to 44-year-olds feeling successful when the person or thing they are a fan of experiences success.
• Participation and sharing on platforms like YouTube play a key role in breaking through to the mainstream, as seen in the case of Backrooms, an urban legend that turned into a blockbuster phenomenon generating 15 billion YouTube views.

Remember those VH1 shows I Love the ’80s and I Love the ’90s, where talking heads would opine about defining pop culture moments like Pac-Man, General Hospital‘s wedding of Luke and Laura, or the OJ Simpson car chase? There was no shortage of easily recognizable subjects to explore.

A version of I Love the 2020s seems less likely — and not just because of unlovable events like a pandemic and climate change. The monoculture that permeated the 20th century, in which a few TV networks, movie studios, record labels, and magazine editors decided what everyone saw, read, and obsessed over, has receded, largely because the internet has fractured audiences and altered viewing habits.

A mainstream culture still exists, though, at least according to a new culture and trends report commissioned by YouTube and released today. The trends report, titled “In Search of Mainstream” and created in partnership with the National Research Group, queried approximately 1,000 respondents aged 14-44 who described themselves as “active online.” The participants were asked what they considered “mainstream” and how they encountered media that appealed to them.

It may not surprise many that YouTube’s findings reflect a fracturing of culture, with respondents’ familiarity with the top 10 most powerful entertainment brands sliding in the last six years. Similarly, young people are less aware of movies and TV shows and more knowledgeable about content creators they find on sites like TikTok and, yes, YouTube.

But while knowledge of Hollywood movies continues to slip among young people, fandom among those who are aware of them is growing while people may be gravitating to different options in this age of unlimited content, their attachment to their favorites is intensifying

And that fandom is increasingly personal with 63 percent of online 14- to 44-year-olds who identify as fans agreeing with this statement: “I feel successful when the person or thing I’m a fan of experiences success.”

The desire to be part of a monoculture remains

A striking aspect of the findings was that many respondents expressed a desire to be part of something bigger or more universal. “…63% agree that being into the same things as other people makes them feel part of something bigger,”

In that vein, many people are seeking out more personalized experiences online, with creators and communities that align with their interests while a teenager might not be aware that The Odyssey was coming to their local multiplex, they are actively seeking content (videos, podcasts, social media posts) about films they already know and love

“Social connection is an important dynamic evolutionarily,” Kevin Allocca, Global Director of Culture & Trends at YouTube, tells Mashable. “If you look at the hierarchy of needs, it’s really important. Fandom has always existed; we always found ways to feel connected to things, but we would never have to say it before because we weren’t living in an environment where it was possible to actually have so many individualized experiences. That’s part of the time that we’re in.”

How do you define mainstream?

For YouTube and NRG, mainstream is the sweet spot of visibility, comprehension, and understanding — when something is “seen everywhere, actively engaged with, and understood across audiences.”

Participation is a key factor in breaking through to the mainstream record podcasts, or film videos about subjects — everything from sports events like the World Cup to content creators like Mr. Beast — it gives them more credence. According to the trends survey, 65 percent of 14- to 44-year-olds agree that something feels more real or legitimate when they see it show up on YouTube

Backrooms to the front

In its release on the study, YouTube highlights the case of Backrooms, one of the year’s biggest blockbusters. What started as an eerie photograph turned into an urban legend of abandoned, liminal spaces thanks to online forums, fan art, and YouTube videos that generated 15 billion YouTube views.

Backrooms moved towards critical mass when online creator Kane Parsons adapted the mythology into a series of found-footage films, which then became a full-length movie Parsons himself directed. At 19 years old, Parsons became the youngest director to top the global box office. Talk about mainstream.

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