Why TikTok Users Are Planning To Invade YouTube Shorts

Forbes

20-03-2025

TikTok users plan to invade YouTube Shorts. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
TikTok users are planning an invasion of a rival platform, YouTube Shorts, in a bid to bring the latter in line with TikTok's fast-paced trend cycle.
YouTube Shorts is viewed as YouTube's version of TikTok, but the two short-form video platforms don't really share the same culture, as TikTok tends to lead the charge by introducing new memes and trends to the wider internet.
Now, some TikTokers are planning to storm YouTube Shorts in order to combat what they believe to be a swarm of AI-generated spam and bots, and improve the overall content by 'colonizing' the platform.
TikToker @privden2 first rallied the troops, claiming that YouTube Shorts is 'filled with horrible videos and the dead internet theory,' as well as 'dead memes from months ago.'
'We could change that,' he suggested. 'We could turn YouTube Shorts into a genuinely good platform. The first order of business is making YouTube Shorts silly again. We just absolutely need to flood YouTube Shorts with current brainrot, and then eventually, everyone will catch on.'
TikToker @leepicdude96 then added fuel to the fire, calling other creators to arms by posting a picture of the Landing of Columbus painting, with text that read: "YouTube Shorts colonization March 25th."
The meme quickly took off, with TikTokers posting silly skits about the upcoming war, imagining the event as a full-blown military conflict.
TikTokers seem keen to band together to post 'brainrot' on YouTube Shorts and replace 'dead internet comments,' a reference to the 'Dead Internet Theory.'
The Dead Internet Theory is a former 4chan conspiracy theory which proposes that the vast majority of internet activity is AI-generated and thus, 'dead.'
When it was first posted, the theory was viewed as paranoid rambling from a lonely internet user, but the sudden rise of generative AI has changed how internet users view the theory.
The internet is obviously not devoid of human activity (at least, not yet), but there's an increased awareness that generative AI is being used to generate comments and content, diluting social media timelines with machine-made slurry.
TikTokers claim that YouTube Shorts is suffering from the radioactive effects of the 'dead internet,' and thus, plan to flood the platform with fresh, human-made content and commentary on March 25.
You might be wondering why TikTokers would even care about another platform, but TikTok has been on shaky ground ever since facing a legal battle in the United States, with the app facing a near-death experience (and a migration to RedNote) before President Trump decided to step in and postpone the ban.
TikTok users have come to understand that the ground might shift below their feet again, and are making contingency plans in case TikTok is eventually banned in the United States.
Boredom seems to be another motivating factor in the YouTube invasion, with many TikTokers complaining of a lack of new memes on TikTok lately, jokingly labeling the phenomenon the 'meme drought' of March.
TikTokers have been depicting the so-called drought by posting tongue-in-cheek videos and photos of the Great Depression, along with charts showing plummeting meme stocks.
Of course, a new meme has been manifested in the form of the YouTube Shorts invasion, so maybe the drought has already been solved—the meme market, it seems, corrects itself.