Maladaptive daydreamers, I have some bad news. TikTok just released its annual TikTok Next trend forecast for marketers in 2026, and the headline takeaway is blunt: fantasy is out — and reality is in.
In TikTok’s telling, 2026 will be less about fantasizing your way out of life and more about intentionally engaging with it. After years dominated by “romanticizing,” “delulu,” and digital escapism, users are shifting toward discipline, routine, and shared accountability as ways to cope with an increasingly unstable world.
TikTok frames this moment as a turn toward collective processing of life’s chaos. Instead of aestheticizing adulthood from afar, users are documenting what it actually takes to get through it. Trends like #TheGreatLockIn, alongside rising keywords such as #lockedin, #hygiene, and #joblife, point to a growing appetite for structure, maintenance, and realism.
Mashable Trend Report
This doesn’t mean joy is gone. It means joy is being redefined. Rather than cinematic fantasies or perfectly curated lives, users are finding satisfaction in progress, consistency, and small, tangible wins. Content that acknowledges both the highs and the lows, and finds humor in imperfection, is now resonating more deeply than polished escapism.
In other words, the fantasy era may be coming to an end, but reality is gaining its own aesthetic. And daydreamers, look, we still have Heated Rivalry. That counts for something.
