The TikTok Year in Review, Celebrating 2020 Creative Excellence in MENA

2020 has been quite the year. From a global pandemic that introduced us to social distancing to personal and economic uncertainties all over the world, it was a year full of mixed emotions. Throughout it all, many people from the MENA region turned to TikTok to share their stories and lift others up. TikTok celebrated, cooked, listened, learned, supported, stayed at home together, and found creativity and joy throughout each twist and turn along the way making the TikTok community the thriving space it is today.

“The Arab region is a melting pot of immense creativity with a young population that has a high level of digital connectivity, and TikTok fuelled this creative spirit across the region in 2020. We are immensely proud of the creativity that has been born and which flourished on our platform this year. The TikTok platform sparks joy and our thriving community proved that joyful creative content has no limits on TikTok. We invite you to take a trip down memory lane with us and look back and celebrate everything the region has to offer and we look forward to a more prosperous new year in 2021!” said Rami Zeidan, head of video and creative at TikTok.

Through the community, TikTok spanned borders and generations, shared and celebrated life’s simple and best moments. With that in mind, here are the moments and people laughs and tears, that made TikTok what it is today in this Year on TikTok roundup:

Top Trending Hashtags

Trends can start from a single video and turn into inspiration across the platform, quickly spreading across TikTok with the help of hashtags. These are the top hashtags the MENA region couldn’t get enough of:

#LearnonTikTok – Where learning never stops.
#DontRushChallenge – Empowering women to embrace their beauty with and without makeup.
#SubmarineChallenge – Interactive submarine game.
#BeautyMode – Transformations at their best.
#WipeitDown – If only it was this quick to get ready.
#FliptheSwitch – Trading places with a simple ‘switch’.
#AlbumCoverChallenge – Using particular songs and albums as the punchline for jokes made easy.
#LoveStory – Dancing to Taylor Swift’s iconic song.
#ChefReacts – Cook-off with six famous chefs.
#RiseAgain – Hard times inspire great moments.

Top Creators

Creators are the heart of TikTok, making the platform unlike any other thanks to their creativity, commitment, and constant drive to make content that inspires audiences the world round. These are the creators in MENA who inspired people to cook, dance and laugh in this rollercoaster of a year:

The Rising Stars

TikTok has become a launchpad for creators to build livelihoods by making content authentic to who they are and driven by their passions. Here are TikTok’s top rising stars:

Top Celebrities

These celebs just like us were stuck at home during the global pandemic, they turned to TikTok to be entertained and to connect with their fans and grow their community like never before.

Brand campaigns thriving on TikTok

The TikTok For Business MENA community, which now stands at over 60,000 registered businesses, came together to share moments of inspiration and positivity and saw brands shift in real-time to embrace authenticity and genuine connection.

Over 83 Arabic-first campaigns were launched in the region – from brands using TikTok to support local communities through the pandemic, to campaigns that put creators at their heart engaging the TikTok’s thriving Arab community and bringing them along on their brand journey. To celebrate a momentous year for brands on TikTok, we’ve compiled the ads that our community has loved and ads that have embodied our “Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks” creative ethos.

Top Branded Challenges that sparked creativity

#FreeYourAwesome
#ShareTheCare
#اليوم _الوطني _السعودي _٩٠ (SaudiNationalDay90)
#افتح _عينك (Openyoureyes)
#StylishVsSavage
#Coffeebeats
#احسن _ناس (BestPeople)
#اغسلها _مع _لايفبوي (CleanwithLifebuoy)
#عزوتنا ملايين (HonoringMillions)
#SketchersMovesModesh

Top Branded Effects

TikTok is also giving its users in the MENA region the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane with its first “Year on TikTok” in-app feature – a special recap that highlights some of the TikTok moments that defined their 2020 on the platform is now available for a limited time only. The YOUR ‘Year on TikTok’ feature can be accessed by simply opening up the TikTok app and selecting the ‘Year on TikTok’ icon on the ‘For You’ feed. Users can also find it on the ‘Year on TikTok’ banner on the ‘Discover’ page.