2020 has been a crazy year for the world, but an amazing year for TikTok. At the start of the pandemic, TikTok was downloaded 113 million times in February 2020, taking it to nearly 2 billion lifetime installs. In fact, Bytedance (TikTok’s parent company) is now considered the world’s most valuable startup.

But why has TikTok been so popular in 2020? Many attribute TikTok’s success to its ability to make us laugh, relate to others and stay sane during the periods of isolation that many of us have found ourselves in. Plus, it is a highly creative platform that has encouraged everyone to create more content as well as consume it. We even saw many brands including TikTok content in their influencer marketing campaigns. The platform’s lighthearted nature has won us over, and the TikTok trends of 2020 are likely to be remembered for years to come.

To help you relive the top trends of TikTok, we’re looking at TikTok’s year in review.

Top Viral Trends Of TikTok 2020

Where would we be without the viral TikTok trends that kept us going this year? Some of the top ones your might remember are:

#BlindingLights

Who didn’t learn this dance in 2020? The blinding lights TikTok challenge gave us all something to do in the first stages of COVID-19, and allowed us to all look a bit silly as we tried to learn those moves and nail the timing - we can say from experience that it’s not as easy as it looks!

#RamsayReacts

Who’d have thought that Gordon Ramsay would bring us so much joy in 2020? His hilarious critique of the TikTok cooking community has us all in stitches. Watch these, and you’ll thank us later.

#BoredInTheHouse

In the year when we spent a lot of time bored in the house, it’s no surprise that this TikTok trend took off. The catchy tune had us all singing along for hours..

Top Celebs On TikTok UK

TikTok recently revealed their top UK celebs on TikTok in 2020, and number one might surprise you...

#1 Gordon Ramsay (15.4m)

Gordon Ramsay has made us laugh a lot this year, and his active presence on the platform shot him straight to the top as our most-loved celeb creator.

#2 Tilly Ramsay (4.4m)

Cute father-daughter videos are exactly what this year called for, and Gordon Ramsay showed his softer side by producing viral content with his 19 year old daughter!

#3 Dua Lipa (4.3m)

Dua Lipa launched her #DuaVideo challenge on TikTok to promote her album and invite fans to get creative with her music. These feel good videos got us all involved, and Dua Lipa became one of the most popular celeb creators on TikTok. Dua’s move will pave the way for the music industry to take advantage of the social media space.

#4 Liam Payne (4m)

Liam Payne wooed us all in 2020, as he proved to be a normal guy who loves a TikTok trend as much as the rest of us. His videos trying out the latest trends made him a popular celeb creator in 2020.

TikTok Educates Us On COVID-19

2020 has been a year like no other, and as we all scrambled to get the best information on COVID-19, TikTok provided the answers. A number of creators rose to the top, providing legitimate medical advice and reassuring us in a time of crises.

Creators like DrAlexGeorge and Mark Tilbury took the lead - offering medical advice and educating us on everything from COVID symptoms to how to manage our mental health during this period.

To add, TikTok has been committed to our health and has continually improved their fight against COVID-19 misinformation. They recently released a statement on the work they did in 2020 to keep users informed and educated on COVID in 2020.

“In January, we introduced an in-app notice so that when people searched for hashtags related to the pandemic, they would be provided with easy links to the World Health Organisation's website and the British Red Cross. In February, we continued our work by partnering with trusted sources to introduce an information hub in-app to provide the TikTok community with access to accurate information. Since June, the page has been viewed more than 2 billion times globally”.

TikTok Raises Key Issues

2020 has also been a big year for political and social change, meaning that we’ve been looking to voices of change more than ever to guide us. TikTok has been an amazing platform for people to share information, protest and highlight key issues, especially around racism and homophobia.

Some of the key voices of change has been identified by TikTok as:

ThisTrippyHippie (9m)

NikkiLilly (3.9m)

LucyEdwardsBlind (794k)

Florence.Simpson (651k)

CheethamsWithDreams (492k)

MichaelDapaah_ (301k)

TikTok Trends Set To Continue In 2021

There’s no sign of TikTok slowing down in 2021, so it’s crucial that content creators and brands are able to utilise this platform to reach key audiences.

Want to learn more about how to make the most of TikTok in 2021? Take a look at our guide on the Best Editing Tools To Make Brilliant TikTok videos.