The end of the year is so close we can smell it and to close off the 2018 YouTube has released its yearly Rewind video.

In case you aren’t aware, Rewind is meant to showcase the top creators and content on YouTube each year.

It was surprising then to see that Will Smith was the creator featured in the opening salvo of Rewind.

Yes, the After Earth actor has a YouTube channel with 4.2 million subscribers but he’s made 48 videos since joining the platform in December 2017. We’re not saying Smith doesn’t deserve to be in Rewind but we feel other creators who aren’t A-list Hollywood actors should have been featured instead.

The video then gets bitten by a Fortnite bug and references to the game are littered throughout. If you ever wanted to see Trevor Noah and John Oliver doing a Fortnite dance, Rewind is good for that.

The premise of the video is YouTube putting the power of Rewind into the hands of the creators and showcasing the people they feel should be featured.

As such the video is littered with memes and references to 2018 pop culture. Even Bongo Cat makes an appearance, no, we aren’t joking.

Putting our criticisms aside for a moment, half way through the video the featured creators do highlight some important moments throughout 2018 that positively impacted our society. We’ll also admit to getting goosebumps when Simone Giertz thanked her fans for supporting her when she underwent brain surgery earlier this year.

That moment is brief though as it’s a few seconds after that we’re once again inundated with Fortnite dancing and memes.

Thankfully the Pauls are nowhere to be seen this year. While the brothers featured heavily in Rewind 2017 their antics in 2018 must have been enough to get them bumped off of the list this year.

Our major issue with YouTube Rewind is that we see the same faces year in and year out, at least when it comes to English-speaking creators.

The video also never addresses some of the major issues with the platform, we haven’t forgotten about the Logan Paul fiasco and the fact that The Thinning 2 was eventually released.

We could go on and on about the problems with Rewind 2018 but it’s better just to say that it’s once a lukewarm attempt at making you feel nostalgic.

While YouTube’s Rewind is disappointing we are trembling in anticipation for the responses from other creators such as videogamedunkey who made his own rewind for 2016.