We Checked In On Social Media Pattern Predictions for 2024 — Right here’s What Got here True and What Didn’t

Firstly of 2024, we have been uncertain what would come out of this yr. The earlier yr had been such a whirlwind with the rise of decentralized social and the addition of AI options that creators, manufacturers, and platforms had all began to redefine how they’d function. It was an thrilling and fast-paced turning level, making it tough to think about what would come subsequent.

That’s why, when asking consultants for his or her 2024 social media predictions initially of this yr, we deliberately targeted on “themes” quite than arduous “predictions.”

From the rise of LinkedIn as a creator hub to the rising significance of authenticity and personal communities, we’ve determined to revisit these themes to see what got here to fruition and what didn’t.

On this 2024 predictions assessment, we’ll dive into how this yr panned out in social by means of the lens of those themes, exploring what got here true, the place we didn’t fairly hit the mark, and the teachings for creators and types alike.

Let’s have a look at the themes that formed social media in 2024.

Very correct: A brand new frontier for influencers and types on LinkedIn

Prediction: LinkedIn will turn into a hotspot for influencer advertising and marketing and inventive content material.

LinkedIn noticed fairly the surge in 2024, as social media e-newsletter writers Lia Haberman and Lindsey Gamble precisely predicted. Particularly, they pinned it as the subsequent frontier for creator development and influencer advertising and marketing — they usually have been proper.

Don’t simply take our phrase for it — associated phrases noticed important surges previously yr, in line with Google Developments, with “LinkedIn creator” up 5% previously yr and “LinkedIn influencer” up 17%.

All through 2024, there was an increase in sponsored content material and model partnerships, supported by enhanced analytics inside LinkedIn, options just like the Model Partnership label, and third-party instruments. Creators may extra simply collaborate with manufacturers, and collaborate they did.

Greater than ever, manufacturers are tapping into creators with a particular mix of professionalism and creativity, like Jayde Powell with the AI video software OpusClip and Nathan Jun Poekert with baggage model Away.

Businesses like Creator Match and CreatorBuzz contribute closely to this evolution, connecting manufacturers and creators to generate profitable and profitable partnerships on LinkedIn.

Past exterior influencers and companions, LinkedIn noticed an increase in employee-generated content material. Executives, social media managers, and staff introduced an genuine voice to the platform, rising engagement for his or her corporations and rising their private manufacturers.

Very correct: The period of authenticity and personalization

Prediction: A shift in the direction of genuine, long-form content material and customized connections will reshape content material creation, emphasizing real interactions and area of interest communities.

Annie-Mai Hodge, founding father of Woman Energy Advertising and marketing, can take the credit score for predicting the shift from short-form content material as platforms like TikTok and Instagram started embracing longer video codecs.

Google Developments corroborates the continued curiosity in long-form, with searches for the time period “lengthy kind video” up 35% in previous yr.

TikTok, as an example, examined 60-minute video uploads in addition to a panorama video format, enabling creators to check out totally different codecs for storytelling and supply extra complete content material.

This shift catered to audiences in search of extra substantial and genuine connections with creators and vice versa.

Area of interest content material additionally continued to seek out loyal followings, highlighting the worth of being “actual” over being “viral.” This pattern led to the rise of micro-influencers — creators with smaller however extremely engaged followings — providing customized content material and constructing belief inside area of interest communities.

An instance that stands out is style creator Elysia Berman documenting her “no-buy” journey in the direction of turning into debt-free on TikTok.

Manufacturers acknowledged the worth of those genuine voices, resulting in extra collaborations with micro-influencers to succeed in focused audiences successfully.

AI additionally performed a heavy function on this prediction.

For platforms, AI-driven algorithms analyze person habits to curate content material feeds tailor-made to particular person preferences. This implies higher discovery of smaller and smaller creators that match hyper-specific niches.

For creators, AI help offers a successful mixture of elevated manufacturing quantity with elevated consistency, resulting in larger engagement throughout the board, as we found in our information evaluation of AI-assisted posts generated in Buffer.

Correct, however not in the best way you suppose: Creators transfer past content material creation

Prediction: Creators would increase past conventional content material into entrepreneurship, leisure, or company roles.

Lia Haberman precisely predicted that we might see extra creators increasing past content material creation. This did find yourself being true, as we noticed by means of creators like Lexi Larson launching her loungewear model Sunday Cherries and documenting every step of the best way.

Knowledge from eMarketer corroborates this with a projection that creator-led manufacturers are projected to generate over $1 billion in retail gross sales in 2025.

One other nice instance of that is finance creator Aleks Petrakieva, who documented her journey to turning into debt-free, in addition to how she was working in the direction of different monetary targets. She created and now sells a debt tracker and budgeting template that web her 1000’s of {dollars} a month.

Nonetheless, at the very least anecdotally, I noticed this pattern enjoying out the opposite method round as effectively, by means of “founder-led social.”

This yr noticed enterprise house owners more and more getting weak and documenting their journey, wins and fails, together with the ins and outs of beginning and working a enterprise.

Some notable examples embrace Grace Beverley, founding father of TALA, and Shreddy. Grace makes use of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to share her entrepreneurial experiences, providing transparency into the challenges and successes of constructing her manufacturers.

One other instance is Fisayo Longe, founding father of Kai Collective, who shared her journey of creating and rising the model, in addition to the story of how fashionable merchandise from her model got here to be.

This pattern displays a broader motion the place entrepreneurs use content material creation not only for advertising and marketing but in addition to construct belief, share data, and foster neighborhood engagement.

Correct: The rise of personal communities

Prediction: Non-public communities would acquire traction as options to mainstream platforms.

Rachel Karten, social knowledgeable and author of the Hyperlink in Bio e-newsletter, famous that we might see a shift in the direction of personal communities as a response to the unpredictability of social algorithms and the need for deeper connections.

These personal, area of interest communities supply a way of belonging and a secure house for real interactions, free from the toxicity and polarization usually discovered on bigger social media platforms.

The largest sign of a shift to community-driven social is all the eye the decentralized social and the Fediverse acquired this yr.

Between Bluesky exploding in reputation and Threads including in fediverse capabilities, there’s a transparent starvation for community-first social platforms.

We noticed this play out over the yr by means of Meta’s expanded options for WhatsApp communities and Instagram broadcast channels.

In my estimation, this stronger deal with neighborhood signifies that going into 2025, social interactions will turn into extra fragmented however intimate. It’ll be as much as neighborhood leaders to create areas and supply experiences that construct belief and loyalty with their viewers.

Correct: Lengthy-form video cements YouTube’s No.1 spot

Prediction: YouTube would solidify its place because the chief in long-form content material.

Brett Dashevsky, founder and organizer of Creator Financial system NYC noticed creators leaning into evenly produced, long-form content material on YouTube. He predicted that this shift amongst creators signified that YouTube affords extra worth to its creators and viewers.

We noticed this play out in actuality with fashionable style creator Knowledge Kaye restarting his YouTube channel in addition to way of life creator Eni Popoola. They’re simply two of the numerous creators who added long-form movies to their content material roster.

I’ll be sincere in saying that it’ll take some time earlier than anybody suggestions YouTube’s long-form video crown. The platform spent 2024 not simply sustaining its edge however actively reinforcing it. As predicted, creators more and more embraced long-form content material, with smaller creators additionally benefitting as YouTube’s algorithm labored to floor area of interest channels to wider audiences.

YouTube’s 2024 International Tradition & Developments Report backs up the expansion of long-form in 2024. The report noticed that YouTube had turn into a competitor for conventional TV and even streaming companies. A standout instance? The recognition of the animated sequence Wonderful Digital Circus, which amassed over 25 billion associated video views globally — even excluding official episodes. The present was so fashionable that Netflix agreed to stream it on the identical time it was revealed to YouTube.

The platform’s means to help every thing from quick movies to polls to interactive long-form movies makes it probably the most versatile hub for creators.

In fact, YouTube hasn’t forgotten about its short-form darling, Shorts, which continues to draw audiences in droves (Buffer customers included — Shorts connections have grown from 5.6K customers in its first month on Buffer to 147K connections).

However whilst creators repurpose long-form movies for these smaller bites, the platform’s basis is as robust as ever. Count on YouTube to proceed main the pack in supporting creators and audiences that love long-form video content material.

What’s forward in 2025?

Our deal with themes paid off — we noticed every one of many predictions for 2024 play out in some kind or one other.

As all the time, these predictions aren’t primarily based on empirical information however quite knowledgeable opinions, it’s all the time satisfying to see what number of come true.

We’re engaged on our predictions for 2025, so be careful for these within the new yr. Try predictions and critiques of earlier years.

5 Themes We Count on to See Throughout Social Media in 2024 (ft. Skilled Contributions)

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