2025 social media predictions from comms pros
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Social media has always been a mercurial, fast-changing industry, but in 2024 it arguably underwent some of its largest shifts in the last decade. From the doubtful future of TikTok in the United States, the continued decline of X and the search for a microblogging successor, to increasing regulation in the space, the year held surprises and curveballs for professionals.
So what will 2025 look like?
We asked on LinkedIn, and more than a hundred people responded. Here are some of their answers, edited for brevity and style.
Tristan Fitzpatrick is senior communications consultant at APCO.
Data privacy is the next frontier for platforms to build trust with audiences. As more users seek personal ownership of their data, platforms with strong privacy safeguards will gain a competitive advantage.
Robbie Schneider is director of US communications for Health Tech without Borders.
I do fear a significant turnover in social media professionals as they are forced to navigate even more challenging environments. Burnout continues to be a major issue for digital professionals, and companies don’t that don’t take this seriously risk losing great employees with industry and institutional knowledge.
Lucy Screnci is senior consultant, communications for Santis Health.
I believe the polarization of social media platforms will cease to matter. PR and comms teams will be under scrutiny to deliver results in terms of brand differentiation and driving meaningful metrics: traffic, conversions, user growth, etc.
Jake Doll is director, client relations at PANBlast, a division of PAN.
AI has ruined traditional social media channels like Facebook and X through bots and spammy or misleading content.
While BlueSky gained a million followers in a day, this looks to be a life raft for fed-up users rather than the destination. I fully expect a new social challenger to appear and gain traction that uses AI to personalize and cater content like TikTok but also uses AI to protect against the barrage of fake posts, rage bait, and bots.
Shira Fine is partner and head of strategic communications at Bryson Gillette.
There will be more AI-created content (still much of it bad). It will become harder and harder to determine where earned media ends and social media begins. As the worlds continue to blur, consumers will have a harder timing differentiating between free and paid.
Evan White is principal at Talent Tech PR.
Social media as a hiring tool: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube will rival LinkedIn, showcasing portfolios, video resumes, and projects. Candidates will be scouted for skills AND personal brands.
Jay Weisberger is external communications lead at DPR Construction.
I’m usually wrong on this stuff, but I think we’re going to see more users pushing back on the algorithms that inform “for you”/suggested feeds. I think folks are realizing they’re not just in bubbles, but that there is increasing misalignment between the world-of-their-algos and the world. It may be a year where it becomes a lot easier to see the feed just of folks you’ve opted in to follow, because it’s one thing to live in a bubble you, yourself, have created vs. one the app wants you to have.
Daniel Méndez Aróstica works in executive communications & external engagement at Johnson & Johnson.
Metrics junkies may start asking social media platforms for “authenticity scores” to prioritize genuine content over highly curated or AI-generated posts.
Alysha Light is founder of Flight PR.
Less digital activism and allyship. Black women have consistently been the strongest coalition builders in social movements, but I predict we’re moving into an era where this will decrease substantially.
Black women won’t expend anywhere near as much emotional and social capital in online movements. They’ll shift toward causes that directly impact their communities.
Organizations that have depended on broad social media mobilization will need to rethink their approach vs. just assuming cross-cultural solidarity.
Dan Farkas is professor of strategic communication at Ohio University.
There will be dozens of emerging social media sites that try to serve a niche market or audience.
1. One or two will emerge and be viable.
2. A few will be sold for a nice profit.
3. Others will be gone as soon as they arrive.
This rush will force agencies to spend more time on social listening and being able to quickly adapt messaging to meet these nuanced social channels.
There will be hours…billable hours.
Sarah Schmidt is president of Interdependence Public Relations.
Exhausted from a year of politically charged content, people will actively rebel against divisive content and creators. They’ll flock to fun and feel good content similar to 2020.
Kenneth Craig is vice president, head of executive communications at Greenough Communications.
Social media has become the primary stage for leadership, where authenticity and strategy are non-negotiable. The executives who will lead the conversation in 2025 will embrace platform-specific storytelling—direct-to-camera insights, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and interactive Q&As—to build real connections. We saw it in the presidential election: the old ways of reaching audiences no longer work because the audience isn’t there.
Alvaro Bendrell is director of digital media at Enel North America.
Personal brands will take higher priority than company brands on LinkedIn, to the point that corporate comms teams will be reorganized to take over executive’s profiles and executive storytelling.
Content creators profiles will take over social and comms teams overall. This will mean a new upskilling and recruiting strategy in which hiring managers need to sell the “story they can tell” to candidates, whereas existing employees need to get trained or be obsolete.
Tawanda Carlton is co-founder COO of TENET Consultancy.
Subscription social media: I’m seeing micro-communities popping up everywhere — and I’m actually part of quite a few. These spaces feel more intimate and focused, which I think is a major draw. As free platforms push premium subscriptions, I predict we’ll see more creators building “inner circle” experiences with exclusive content, ad-free options, and meaningful engagement. This tiered approach will transform how people interact with creators and brands, making it less about mass appeal and more about niche, dedicated audiences.
Akeem Anderson if senior vice president at H/Advisors Abernathy.
I expect user fatigue will set in. Coming off an election year where everybody had everything to post, exhaustion will set in and post volume will dip across social communities.
Mandi Kane is associate vice president at Jarrard Inc.
With the caveat that its future in the U.S. is still largely up in the air, TikTok will emerge as the go-to for news and public information, and it will be where news breaks first. More journalists are becoming content creators and building their own news organizations. As trust in mainstream media continues to decline, I envision these journalists will actually be more trusted by their communities and continue to be very influential.
Saba Bokhari is senior manager, advocacy, influencer marketing & social commerce for L’Oréal PPD.
Smart brands have already started to dip their toes here, but I think influencer marketing will skyrocket on LinkedIn — not just B2B, but B2C as well. Lyft and Hootsuite’s work this year comes to mind as they’re playing in the LinkedInfluencer space already, but in the future I could see integrations from apps like Headspace (for mindfulness before meetings) to coffee makers (to power you before the commute) to comfy office chairs for the home office weaved into creator posts. In tandem, LinkedIn users will aim to build stronger personal brands to capture those dollars.
Meaghan Bresnahan is director of executive communications at the World Wildlife Fund.
The prediction I’m most hopeful about is internal: truncated review processes. Social teams, especially those who work in-house, need to be fast, responsive, and creative to ride the wave of trends and breaking news. Speed requires trust between managers and creators. It also demands a willingness to try new things without exhaustive vetting, a practice that is often absent in risk-averse teams and brands.
Jonathan Zhu is director, digital marketing & eCommerce at Influence Marketing.
After the fiasco of sending influencers to countless Eras concerts, I think brands should consider pivoting their gifting and event strategies toward a completely different, less transactional audience.
Imagine the organic PR that could come from sending a class of 20 kids, aged 8-10, to the Eras Tour in a suite. The pure excitement and genuine appreciation from the children would create an emotional connection with your brand that lasts far longer. In my opinion, moments like these resonate more deeply and leave a much more meaningful impact.
Andrew Horton is head of communications & digital engagement at Church Army UK & Ireland.
Rough and ready, cheap and dirty, real and relatable. That’s how we’ll distinguish AI disinformation from genuine, authentic communication. So I expect more videos purposely not being polished or overly edited. Straight off the phone or camera, straight onto socials – warts and all. And then creators will self-referentially nod to this. It’ll work for a while, until AI catches up…
Lindsay Scheidell is founder, lead public relations at community advisor at Hadley PR.
We see more and more people spending less and less time on traditional social channels. They are getting tired of all the hyperfocused algorithms putting them in a box and being fed questionable AI-generated content or influencers (TikTok is exhausting a lot of users with this outreach). I see folks hanging out more on brand websites to get trustworthy info and in community groups and platforms where they feel more connected with original content and PEOPLE (and without being bombarded to buy something with every scroll through).
Reece Carter is chief creative officer and co-founder at Sport Design Australia.
Brands will FINALLY stop including links (that do nothing) in Instagram captions. Probably not… but hey.
I think that many social users like the algorithmic bubbles that social channels mirror to them. With each new interest, a new world appears. Rabbit holes are loved. And there is a joy in moving on to fresh faces and subjects, like a snake shedding its skin. It allows being reborn continuously. No online friend or influencer is interesting enough to sustain attention over years. The movement is towards interesting and quality content, transcending the whole follower building emphasis of the past. It has become a level playing field and a whole lot more interesting (and addictive).