Monthly Trend Breakdown: January

Welcome to our monthly trend breakdown, the home of the top trends from the previous month, and how they worked!

Brooklyn Beckham

When Brooklyn Beckham shared a series of Instagram stories alleging his mother, Victoria, of hijacking his wedding dance, TikTok and Instagram went into a frenzy.

However, rather than sympathising with him, the internet saw a humorous side to it, with many sharing memes and posting reenactments of how they imagined that dance might’ve looked to those at the event.

This brought a wave of "In Victoria’s Defence" content, where users posted their own high-energy wedding footage to justify her alleged behaviour. Many utilised her 2001 track “Not Such An Innocent Girl” as the audio of their videos, propelling the song to number one on the Official Singles Sales Chart twenty-five years after release.

The 2016 trend 

When the internet collectively decided that 2026 is actually the new 2016, social feeds witnessed a surge of digital nostalgia. Rather than focusing on the future, users are romanticising an era that felt more communal and carefree. This movement acts as a reaction to the saturated world of AI-generated content and algorithmic fatigue. Users are sharing their 2016 phone archives, posting low-res selfies with the Rio de Janeiro filter and bringing back the classic Snapchat dog ears. This wave 2016 content saw Zara Larsson’s track Lush Life make a return to the UK Top 10 after soundtracking thousands of nostalgic reels.

Say Your Stupid Line

Perfection is often chased on social media, but a recent trend exposing people’s predictable patterns completely took over. Using the outro to Tame Impala’s 2015 hit "The Less I Know The Better," users revealed the repetitive phrases they say every single day. Creators lip sync the lyric "Come on Superman, say your stupid line," before cutting to a signature catchphrase that their friends or coworkers are tired of hearing.

This brought a wave of content where massive brands and celebrities mocked their own habits. Huge figures like Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter participated, using the trend to poke fun at their own personas. It’s also been a moment of resurgence for creators and television characters who have previously gone viral for a catchphrase, with The Office’s Michael Scott catchphrase "That's what she said” getting over 5 million views on a single post.

Honourable Mention: The Red Flag Reveal

The month also saw the rise of the red flag reveal, where people ask their friends or family if specific characteristics are green or red flags. After getting an honest and often brutal opinion, the creator reveals they were actually describing the person they were talking to the whole time. This trend reached a peak when Francesca Scorsese used it on her father, the legendary director Martin Scorsese. By asking him to judge "red flags" that were actually his own personal habits, she created a viral moment that felt both wholesome and hilarious.

The January Takeaway

If January taught us anything, it is that being perfect is now the least interesting thing you can be. From the 2016 throwbacks to the Scorsese pranks, it feels like the internet is choosing the messy and the human over the polished and the corporate. These viral moments suggest that in 2026, the brands that find success could be the ones that stop trying to lead the conversation and actually join it. Sticking to a rigid and perfect image feels like a quick way to get left out of the room.