YouTube turns 15 in India, shares top creator trends

YouTube has now been in India for a decade and half and the space has never been bigger for the platform in terms of creation, consumption and pop culture.

“15 years in, YouTube has taken on many avatars - a place of discovery for trends moving the world, and a reflection of a curious, connected and vibrant India, that has embraced video as its language,” said Ishan John Chatterjee, director, India, YouTube said.

The online video sharing platform shared five trends that showcase the impact of Indian creators and fans in shaping the digital video landscape and creator economy in India.

Creation has become frictionless

YouTube, today, offers a wide canvas of creative tools. The wide availability of video tools made creation simpler and fun. More creative tools have spurred an expansion of formats, which in turn resulted in more stories, more scale, more fans and impact.

This creative expansion is helping breathe new life into popular, well-established genres such as gaming, tech, comedy or cooking, reviving interest in many niche topics and cultures (case in point: the growing community of Shayari and poetry) and fueling the emergence of new genres like science, facts or motivation.

Consumption is multiformat and seamless

Viewers increasingly expect personalized experiences, and use different formats to meet different needs — viewing long-form, short-form, live, and pre-recorded content across mobile and connected TV screens.

Pop culture is defined by how fans make them their own

Viewers have turned into amateur creators, adding personal expression and unique perspectives to video trends with ease, propelled by the explosion of video formats, easy to use creative tools and special effects features.

Fandoms have become multi-layered

YouTube observed that while casual fans might have a feed that helps them passively consume more content relating to their fandom, a more active fan might use Shorts to create memes, or interact with their fandom by remixing or riffing on its content. Super fans may create content for other fans, and professional fans use their expertise to create for a general audience.

A parallel, new world of creative entrepreneurs is thriving

Artists and creators have been able to use YouTube as a springboard to building successful online and offline businesses - from launching next-gen media companies, to pursuing creative careers or creating successful lines of products and merchandise. As more sophisticated creation tools continue to democratize creativity, the creator economy on YouTube is taking new shape.