What’s “hot” in the online world in 2025?

• Why is Brazil an LGBT country? An exhibition at SP and a research project reflecting on practice
• Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes They are “tourism ministers” and “deserving of CPF”, as Brazilian fans joke

Army green and yellow

The hype and ubiquitous green and yellow on social media has taken on a chauvinistic tone with “I’m Still Here” in the running for the long-awaited (and subsequently celebrated) Oscar for Best International Picture. At the beginning of the year, with Fernanda Torres winning Best Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globe Awards for Walter Salles, Brazilians showed that in the digital environment there is no hybrid complex. The country was defended with emojis, memes (always the reason for the success of the CCBB, which was held in Brasilia until March 1 and then went to Belo Horizonte and Rio), and teeth.

The mobilization was so great that the CEO of the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bill Kramer, told GLOBO in October: “We will never go back to the way we were before.” He was referring to the invasion of Brazilian fans who returned by the way. The prospect of a nomination for “The Secret Agent,” a film directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho with Wagner Moura, in 2026, is already stirring @thecademy’s Instagram account, as can be seen in posts from the 2025 Governors Awards, in November.

“The world has realized the importance of the country and thought of strategies to talk to us, because participation is the great motivator of this environment,” says Issaf Garhawi, a professor at the University of São Paulo and a researcher in digital culture.

If “Please come to Brazil” is already a frequent phrase in the comment box of pop idols, some of them have already decided to follow the request. Boosting their virtual presence, they’ve not only made it here, but also worn the “Brazil essential” trend, which has been a huge hit this year on TikTok and Instagram by celebrating elements of the national culture on T-shirts, music and even rubber slippers.

During her visit to São Paulo and Rio as part of her “Radical Optimism” tour in November, Dua Lipa toured the two cities and documented everything in her personal file. Last weekend, Rosalía came to Rio to listen to the new album “Lux”, and she did the same.

This year’s Brazilian mobilization also served a political cause of national importance: the defense of children and adolescents. The big catalyst was Felipe Prisanem Pereira, also known as Failca, from Paraná. In August, the influencer posted a roughly 50-minute video on YouTube titled “Puberty,” about the early exposure of minors online, often of a sexual nature. It has received more than 51 million views so far. Felca was able to organize a wide-ranging discussion, going so far as to speed up the processing of PL 2628/2022. As a result, the project was approved and endorsed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in September, becoming known as “ECA Digital”. It establishes protection mechanisms for children and adolescents on electronic platforms, websites, applications and games.

— The video covered the topic for interviewees from different generations. This is important because the digital environment is highly polarized, with many bubbles – says Renata Tomaz, professor at FGV and co-founder of Recria (Communication, Childhood and Adolescence Research Network).

Filka has so successfully punctured the bubble that his name popped up in the “Who’s Who” category of a Google search list in Brazil marked by the year 2025, published exclusively by GLOBO.

The movie “Who is Failaka” came in second place, behind “Who is the New Pope?” (The answer to this question is the American Cardinal Robert Prevost, who chose the name Leo XIV.) Third, the Brazilians wanted to know “Who is the masked man on ‘The Trip’?” (Adonai’s character, in the plot appearing in Globo’s “Vale vai ver de novo”, between May and October), followed by “Who is Charlie Kirk?” (Trump-allied activist killed in September) and “Who is the new coach of the Brazilian national team?” (Italian Carlo Ancelotti).

Respected audience: From a distance, it looked like a real hall. Up close too. The hyper-realistic “Programa Marisa Maiô”, created by illustrator Ronnie Phillips with the help of artificial intelligence, poked fun at the format and made many people laugh with the sarcastic presenter. This has raised alarm bells: AI tools for creating videos are becoming increasingly sophisticated, confusing the concept of reality.

Blessed be the beatbox: From Goiânia to the world, with the blessing of God. Sisters Marizel and Marisa burst the TV Pai Eterno bubble by performing “Vocação” complete with dancing and beatboxing. The duo’s style spread to networks in Brazil and abroad and, as a result, became a topic on the BBC in the United Kingdom, and CNN and NBC’s The Today Show, both in the United States.

Toys for adults: They’ve been around since the 1990s, but realistic dolls (“reborn babies”) are reborn in full force in 2025. The topic had such a strong presence on the networks, where videos and photos of people with their babies (and complimentary or explosive comments) multiplied that it ended up in the TV series “Vale tudo”, on the Globo channel, and in the New York Times, which described the phenomenon as a “fever”.

“The taste of anger”. Entries that bring out the worst in those on the other side of the screen guided the selection of the Oxford University Press dictionary. The official definition of this expression (which is considered a single word, caution university lexicographers) is “online content that is intentionally created to incite anger or discontent by being depressing, provocative, or offensive.”

“Parasocial” (parasocial, in Portuguese). The Cambridge University Dictionary, another masterful bible of the English language, looks to the world of celebrity to choose its word for 2025. The official definition of the adjective is “an association that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character from a book, film, television series, etc., or an artificial intelligence.”

“Biometric Coding”. The lexicographers of Collins Dictionary, which began in Ireland more than 200 years ago, were inspired by the world of artificial intelligence — more specifically a term coined by Andrei Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT — to choose their expression of the year. The definition is “using artificial intelligence, motivated by natural language, to help write computer code.”

“67” (six seven, in Portuguese). The selection of the online English dictionary Dictionary.com goes back to the Alpha generation, born since 2010. They say that the meaning is uncertain, because it varies between the interlocutors, but it appears more often in the meaning of “more or less” and “maybe”. They also come with different spellings (67, 6-7 or spelled), but one thing is certain: “sixty-seven” or “sixty-seven” is never said.