Social platforms continue to redefine how audiences engage with entertainment, sports, and politics. From record-breaking videos at the Golden Globes to the political drama leading up to the 2025 inauguration of the US president, this blog explores topics that captured millions of views and sparked conversations around the world.
Dive in as we break down the biggest trends, viral moments, and innovative strategies shaping the social media ecosystem and how you can leverage them to continue adjusting your strategy to meet your audiences where they are.
Entertainment: Golden Globes Highlights That Captivated the Internet
The Golden Globes never fail to create moments that dominate social media feeds, and this year was no exception. From emotional speeches to jaw-dropping fashion, here’s a breakdown of the most captivating social content from the week following the event.
Most-Watched & Most-Engaging Video: Zoe Saldaña’s Standout Acceptance Speech
The top video of Golden Globes social content was posted to TikTok by Entertainment Tonight, featuring Zoe Saldaña’s emotional acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress—her first-ever Golden Globe win. This heartfelt moment resonated deeply with audiences, racking up a staggering 34M views and 4.4M engagements within just two days. Watch the video here.
Zendaya’s Engagement News Makes Headlines
Zendaya (once again) proved to be a social media powerhouse. In the week following the ceremony, three of the top 10 most-viewed videos from the Golden Globes focused on her engagement announcement to Tom Holland. The #2 most-viewed video, posted by HBO’s @streamonmax TikTok account, strategically weighed in on the news by creating a meme that featured her iconic role as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria.
The post layered an image of Zendaya’s engagement ring on the Golden Globes red carpet over a clip of her character, creating a buzzworthy blend of pop culture and entertainment. This is a prime example of how media companies can tap into trending content formats to drive engagement.
What Content Is Driving the Most Views?
It’s worth noting that of the red carpet interviews, 38% were hosted by social media influencers. While some posted the interviews to their own personal accounts, other rising social stars partnered with media companies to conduct these interviews.
Media entities can follow the lead of native social creators by partnering with them to create their social-first red carpet interviews at award shows and other big events.
Whether it was the heartfelt authenticity of Zoe Saldaña’s speech or the viral strategy behind Zendaya’s engagement content, the Golden Globes proved to be a treasure trove of social video gold.
Sports: NFL’s Big Plays on YouTube
The NFL garnered 4.7B YouTube views during the 2024 regular season, with the league’s owned channels maintaining a large share of that viewership (the NFL’s main page generated 611M views by itself, not counting individual team pages).
But other creators also drove plenty of eyeballs to NFL content, whether they had game rights or not…
YouTube Insights from the 2024 NFL Season:
→ ESPN saw NFL-related videos on its main page generate 95.8M views.
→ Pat McAfee, ESPN personality, delivered 94.7M views himself.
→ Four of the five most-viewed NFL videos were uploaded by independent creators.
→ Only six of the top 50 most-viewed videos ran longer than one minute.
→ Individual creators like D1 Kuumo, Splashe NFL, and Hangtime NFL sparked 80M+ views by honing in on #Shorts and other fan-focused content that made them go-to voices of the 2024 season.
YouTube #Shorts Success
Success with shorts isn’t just limited to individual creators; various teams and NFL media partners found ways to engage with shorter content as well. The most popular among those Shorts was a video featuring Houston Texans’ mascot Toro hitting a Dallas Cowboys logo made of rice before the cross-state rivals met on the field.
Paramount’s Nickelodeon continued its efforts to engage younger fans by hosting NFL-related trivia contests and behind-the-scenes content on Nick Sports. Their NFL mascot trivia video won more than 10.4M views.
This kid-centric spin on sporting events shows how brands and media companies can weigh in on large-scale events and topics from outside their vertical.
Politics: The Road to the 2025 Inauguration
Of the 10 most-viewed videos about the US presidential inauguration prior to January 20th, Inauguration Day, six were related to Trump’s hush money sentencing, one featured the warning Trump made to Hamas in 2024 regarding the release of the hostages, and three discussed worries about the security of Trump and other US leaders at events leading up to the inauguration.
The most engaging Instagram video ahead of the inauguration featured Trump discussing his plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Top 5 Most-Viewed Media Creators Covering the Run-Up to the 2025 US Presidential Inauguration
January 1-15, 2025
YouTube
By looking at how other media companies are achieving success on specific social platforms, creators can adopt a competitive strategy to gain traction across platforms.
Daily Mail has consistently leaned into TikTok videos and content trends to connect to younger audiences. Many of their videos feature a reporter with a face-to-camera format, presenting news in a social influencer style.
TikTok
Unlike other platforms, pop-culture talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel and The View are popular on Facebook.
The political landscape has and will continue to shape how media organizations and influencers connect with social audiences on a global scale. These trends underline the evolving role of digital platforms in amplifying key political moments.
From the glitz of the Golden Globes to the ever-polarizing world of politics—social video continues to be the beating heart of global conversations. As these platforms evolve, they remain a powerful tool for capturing and creating cultural moments, amplifying voices, and staying connected to your audiences across the globe.
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