A year is a long time on the internet. A day is a long time on the internet, in fact, so a year is a ridiculous period. In 12 months, thanks to the lightning speed of social media, trends can come and go. You could be on holiday or have broken your phone and return to the cruel corridors of Twitter, Instagram and TikTok to feel like everyone is speaking a completely different language to you. Or at least, you could if these trends went completely uninvestigated and unpicked over by Extremely Online Detectives like the SWAT team we have here at i-D. So if you missed any of this — the best of the best, investigated and picked over, just for you! — in 2023, don’t worry. There’s always 2024. The wheel keeps turning. The internet trend cycle waits for no one, so here are some of our faves, and the things you might have missed, from the past 12 months.
January: ‘Lucky girl syndrome’ is the peak of the internet’s delusion era
Whether it’s toxic optimism or imposter syndrome, it’s not good. Read here.
February: All hail the girlfailure
2023’s answer to the girlboss is here, and she’s a massive loser. Thank god. Read here.
March: Why is Scream’s Ghostface in so much OnlyFans porn?
As the chaotic, flirty killer of the iconic slasher movies returns in Scream VI, we investigate the recent rise in NSFW Ghostface content online. Read here.
April: Boobs are back!
Plastic surgeons suggest a new era of bombshell beauty is upon us, characterised by an increase in ‘natural’ implants over the BBL aesthetic. Read here.
May: The new weird shoe is no shoe at all
Jacob Elordi, Alexander Skarsgård in ‘Succession’ and even Shawn Mendes’ smoothie squad — the hotties are walking the streets barefoot. Read here.
June: Caroline Calloway becomes an author!
The infamous influencer’s long-awaited book is “very good at the beginning, very good at the end, and fatally mediocre in the middle”. Read here.
July: How TikTok made a 00s dating advice book a best seller
Young people are discovering the dating manuals that had a hold over everyone’s relationships two decades ago. Read here.
August: WTF is cornplating?
And more importantly, how do we stop it? Read here.
September: Yearnposting becomes another symptom of our collective malaise
The internet has turned an emotion into both a verb and a TikTok trend. Read here.
October: The rise of the public transit It Girl
From ‘Tube Girl’ to ‘Subway Sessions’, a new crop of creators are chasing virality with the help of the underground. Read here.
November: The strange allure of Ivy League cafeteria TikTok
Why do we care whether the pancakes are better at Yale or Columbia? Read here.
December: Welcome to the ‘permaweird’
2023 has been an odd one — and it looks like the uncanny is here to stay. Read here.