TikTok’s Hopecore Trend: Meaning, History, and Examples

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Everything to know about the wholesome social media movement

Co-authored by Bailey Bujnosek, BA Reviewed by Candace Gasper

Last Updated: February 25, 2025 Fact Checked

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Hopecore Meaning

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Hopecore TikTok Trend Examples

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When did the hopecore trend start?

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Hopecore Music

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Hopecore TikTok Controversy

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The #hopecore trend is everywhere on TikTok right now—but what is it all about? Started as a response to endless doomscrolling and negativity on social media, hopecore aims to refresh your FYP with positive and wholesome content. From inspirational quotes to heartwarming clips, scrolling #hopecore is sure to make you smile. Keep reading to learn all about this uplifting trend, examples of hopecore TikTok, and its controversy.

What is hopecore?

Hopecore is a TikTok trend that began in early 2023 and blew up in 2024. The trend features users posting inspiring, heartfelt, and wholesome videos of athletes, animals, babies, and cartoon characters. The trend aims to counteract the negativity and ragebait often seen on social media.

Section 1 of 5:

Hopecore Meaning

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Hopecore is a trend of posting positive videos on TikTok. The videos’ exact content varies, but they often include clips of people overcoming challenges, celebrating positive moments, or passing on empowering advice. Hopecore TikToks can also be text-based, as users share motivational quotes about perseverance and success.
- While many hopecore videos use clips, several popular hopecore videos utilize TikTok’s photo mode to share slideshows of positive content.^{[1]
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- Some of the first videos under the #hopecore tag featured athletes. More recent videos have animals, babies, non-athletes, or cartoon characters in them, often with the text “life is beautiful” in the center of the clips.^{[2]
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Section 2 of 5:

Hopecore TikTok Trend Examples

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Several hopecore TikToks show people experiencing a happy moment. For example, one popular #hopecore video shows three clips. In the first, a woman opens a gift: a Build-A-Bear with a recording of her late daughter’s voice. The second clip shows a man being pulled over by the police, only to find out it’s part of a pregnancy reveal from his partner. The third clip shows baby twins noticing each other for the first time.
- Other common content includes children hearing their family’s voices or seeing for the first time thanks to medical interventions. There are also clips of surprise reunions and proposals.
- These videos usually have the phrase “life is about moments” or “life is amazing” over them.
These videos will often show the struggles and failures of the athletes leading up to the moment when they set a record, score a point, or win an event. They may have messages written over them like “never give up” or “You can’t give up.”
These clips are overlaid with the phrase “Be kind for no reason.” For example, one video shows men complimenting other men to fight stereotypes of toxic masculinity. Another TikTok shows men catching baseballs at games and giving them away to young fans.
Common cartoons featured include Kung Fu Panda, The Princess and the Frog, and Meet the Robinsons. The #hopecore clips feature inspiring quotes from these movies about believing in yourself and being okay with failure.
Like any trend, some TikTokers parody hopecore with ironic videos that pretend to be hyper-positive while not sharing actual wholesome or ‘hopecore’ content. An example is a TikTok with dolphins, rainbows, and sparkles that says “i might have an unhealthy obsession with coke zero.”

Section 3 of 5:

When did the hopecore trend start?

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The hopecore trend began in early 2023. User chromedome added the term to Urban Dictionary in January 2023, describing it as a genre of videos meant to invoke happiness and hope. However, the hashtag and trend did not go viral on TikTok until early 2024, as more users began to share hopecore content.^{[3]
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- Of the many -core aesthetics that rise on TikTok, hopecore had one of the most rapid ascents to virality. The #hopecore gained 20,000 new videos in one week in February 2024.^{[4]
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Section 4 of 5:

Hopecore Music

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Hopecore content features soulful music. Unlike other TikTok trends or core aesthetics, there’s no one audio that goes with the trend. Rather, songs from soulful artists like Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra are used.^{[5]
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Research source} More recently, the song “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners became a popular audio choice for #hopecore videos.
- Hopecore playlists feature uplifting, feel-good songs from artists like Owl City, Electric Light Orchestra, Whitney Houston, and others.
- Some hopecore creators use audio clips from motivational speeches instead of music.

Section 5 of 5:

Hopecore TikTok Controversy

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Spam accounts have used the hopecore tag to post illicit content. This controversy first appeared in September 2024, when spam accounts repeatedly posted an inappropriate slideshow using the #hopecore tag. Many users were shocked and complained that reporting these accounts did nothing, as TikTok left them up.^{[6]
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- The anonymous woman in these spam slideshows came to be known as the hopecore girl.
- Users will leave comments on other spam or inappropriate videos using the hopecore tag, questioning the tag’s use and what it has to do with hopecore.