Social Media is always changing… So let’s have fun making some social media trend predictions for 2025!

In this post, I’m sharing 10 social media trends that I predict will take over the social media space in 2025! Could I be wrong about these trends? Absolutely! Am I going to have fun making some social media trend predictions anyway? Absolutely! 

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10 Social Media Trends That I Predict Will Change Everything in 2025

Prediction #1: Influencer Marketing & Collaborations will change

Influencer Marketing is a marketing strategy in which brands collaborate with creators (influencers) to promote their brand, services, or products through the influencer’s content. Traditionally, a brand pays a creator X amount for a sponsored post. Then, the creator creates a video dedicated to that brand and whatever they want to promote.

Unfortunately, this strategy has been seeing lower and lower engagement for both the brands and the creators, making it a less valuable form of marketing for the brands. 

Why is traditional influencer marketing losing engagement? 

Day-to-day users on TikTok and Instagram are tired of these types of partnerships. These days, most users are programmed to swipe past this type of sponsored content because it feels like an ad. 

My prediction is that brands will start seeking out Ambassadors over Collaborators.

What’s the difference between collaborations, and ambassadors?

Collaborations take place over one or two posts that the brand has paid the influencer to create. 

Whereas Ambassadors already use the products. They’re creators who already love the brand and talk about them in their stories or their posts. The idea is that the brand will see that you’re already a super fan, and they’ll pay you to keep doing what you’re doing.  

The creator is then treated like a more exclusive member of the brand’s community – or even a face of the brand.

A great example of ‘Ambassador’ marketing is Gymshark Athletes. If you’re a fitness creator and you genuinely love Gymshark clothing, wear their clothing in your videos and your audience already knows you love them, it would make sense for you to become a Gymshark Athlete. 

Then when you drop your code or a CTA in your content, it feels natural for your audience. 

Or if you announce that you’re officially a Gymshark Athlete, your audience will be stoked WITH you because you’ve already been obsessed with them for a long time. This works well for the brand because then they can make sure that you’re only wearing Gymshark clothes in your videos. 

Now, do I know how this will work in practice, in terms of making money as a creator? No, I don’t. But I think long-term ambassadors will have a heavier impact on converting new customers for brands, compared to one-off collaborations in 2025. 

Prediction #2: Hook Burnout and New Hook Evolution

Not only do we see social media trends come and go, but we also see different types of hooks come and go. 

Hooks are ways that you grab someone’s attention at the beginning of your video.

Some popular hooks over the past year have been, starting your video by saying “GRWM while I____”, or setting your phone down while you’re talking, and even starting your video by saying “stop scrolling.” 

All of those are hooks that have worked really well for a time. 

However, what’s currently working is what I call, “Hook Layering.”

Hook layering is where you make sure that you have an audible, text, and visual hook all happening at the same time to grab someone’s attention. If you want to learn more about hook layering, watch this video about creating viral short-form content. 

But here’s the thing. I predict that we’re going to start seeing users get burnt out by this strategy. It works really well right now and not that many creators are doing it (or doing it well). But when more creators catch on to this strategy and start using it, it will eventually become a cliche way to grab attention. This means we see some sort of hook evolution take place in the creator space. 

I’m predicting that a new type of hook is on the horizon. I don’t know exactly what that hook will look like… but I do see it falling into the landscape of my next prediction. 

Prediction #3: A Rise in ‘Facetime Content’

There are a million different ways to describe this style of content that I see as a social media trend in 2025, but basically it’s the epitome of authentic content. I know ‘authentic’ content is a bit of a buzzword right now… so think of this style of content as: 

• Organic
• Natural
• Low effort videos 

Videos that feel like you’re on a Facetime call with your best friend. It’s a rise in non-performative creators. People who are just being themselves and aren’t putting on a show or over-editing. 

Users want to see creators who are keeping it real. This content can also feel more ‘slow-paced’. 

We can already see this type of content performing well with creators like Sam Sulek, Dry Creek Wrangler School, Chef Tini on TikTok, Keith Lee’s OG videos, and more. 

What makes these creators stand out?

At a glance, it doesn’t look like there’s any real strategy happening in these videos. If you look at Sam Sulek’s YouTube – his thumbnails aren’t even following typical recommendations for creators. So how is this strategy so effective?

Personally, I think that consumers are feeling overwhelmed by social media apps. 

Open TikTok or Instagram and everything is so fast-paced. By the time you leave the app, you feel like your brain has turned to mush. Most people I talk to feel exhausted just from scrolling on social media. 

Even my last prediction about hook layering is causing consumer burnout, so I think this slow-paced, unedited content is what more and more people are craving. 

When someone comes across these “low-effort” creators, it’s like your brain finally gets to breathe. You can chill, relax, and just feel like you’re hanging out with someone. 

Disclaimer: by low effort, I do not mean that these creators are not trying. I mean their content looks effortless. 

Prediction #4: A Rise in Both Small and Older Creators

I’ve actually already started seeing this a lot on YouTube and TikTok (less on Instagram, though they say they want to start promoting smaller creators).

What I’m seeing is more and more small channels and accounts being pushed on YouTube Home and the TikTok ‘For You’ page. I don’t know about you – but I feel like my YouTube Home page has a really good range of different-size creators and often on TikTok, I’m one of the first viewers on very small accounts.  

Not only that, but I’ve also seen more and more creators over the age of 50 start growing on their platform of choice. For example, Fishing with Oh Dad or Grandma Droniak. Both are viral content creators who are paving the way for older creators. 

If you’re someone who is just getting started or you’ve felt like, “No one would follow me, I’m too old to be a creator”, it’s time to THINK AGAIN!

Now that we’ve talked about a rise in different social media trends for 2025, let’s talk about a big fall that I see happening this year.

Prediction #5: Large Creators Will Struggle

This has already started happening with some creators, who went viral doing one thing… but then failed to adapt to new strategies and evolve with social media. 

I think that creators who blew up quickly over the last couple of years are going to struggle to connect and relate to their audience as social media continues to evolve. This is something that I’ve struggled with as a creator and I’ve had to challenge myself to think outside the box. 

So my prediction is that creators who went viral doing one thing are going to have to adapt quickly or have a hard time staying relevant. 

Now, let’s dive into some platform-specific predictions!

Prediction #6: TikTok Will Become a Real Amazon Competitor

I’ll preface this by saying that I don’t think TikTok will get banned. We already saw the ban removed and I think that Donald Trump will work with the creators of TikTok to keep the app in the US. So what do I predict for TikTok in 2025?

TikTok is going to be competing with Amazon. TikTok Shop has been on the rise for almost two years now. They made $4.4 billion in revenue in 2023, and last year they were projected to hit $20 billion in revenue (we don’t have the exact number yet but they made over $100 million on Black Friday alone).

When TikTok Shop first launched, I saw it as Wish 2.0. Everything was about $0.67 and super low quality. Not only are small businesses seeing success with sales, but we’re starting to see big brand names setting up their products in TikTok Shop.  

Brands like Tarte, Halara, Simple Modern, Haus Labs, and more are using TikTok Shop to sell their products. 

I think this will only continue to grow and we’ll start seeing more and more big-name brands on TikTok Shop.

Prediction #7: TikTok Creators Turning to YouTube

There are a couple of reasons why I’m predicting this move as a social media trend in 2025. 

First, with constant talk about a TikTok ban, it makes sense for creators to want to diversify their platforms. And YouTube recently extended their Shorts length to 3 minutes, so it’s a great option for Creators who want to repurpose content longer than a 60-second limit (Shorts) or a 90-second limit (Reels). 

Not only that, but TikTok Creators already see themselves as video creators and in 2024 we saw YouTube surpass Netflix in TV streaming hours. So if you want to expand your video portfolio, YouTube is going to be a great place to do that. 

And there’s a third reason I see TikTok Creators turning to YouTube… but that’s actually my next prediction.

Prediction #8: Rise in Long-Form Content

Long-form content has always existed (hence the creation of YouTube from the beginning). But there’s a lot of evidence that points toward a push for long-form content, which is why I predict this as one of my 2025 social media trends.

• Some users (like myself) are getting burnt out with fast-paced short-form content and crave something longer
• YouTube expanded Shorts to 3 minutes
• TikTok allows up to 30-minute videos for some accounts
• You can watch horizontal videos on TikTok
• Facebook recently added a new video tab with a horizontal rotate option similar to TikTok
• YouTube beat Netflix for TV streaming hours

All of these things are pointing to long-form content being on the rise.

Prediction #9: Instagram Monetization 

Do I have any evidence for this one? No, I do not. It is just something I would love to see happen over on Instagram. 

Instagram already has some monetization options, which is great – but their payout is struggling compared to TikTok and YouTube. For example, last year I made over $100,000 just from YouTube Monetization. And I know that creators can make just as much on TikTok with TikTok monetization. 

Since TikTok and YouTube are actually paying creators, it’s making more and more creators choose those platforms over Instagram. I think that it’s time for Instagram to step it up if they want creators to still take their platform seriously in 2025. 

Monetization is going to be the best way for Instagram to stay competitive in 2025. 

I don’t think they need to pay creators more necessarily, but they need to get more organized in how and when you can become monetized on Instagram.

YouTube and TikTok are very transparent with the benchmarks that you need to hit in order to get paid – and they’re very transparent with how payments work. So I am hoping that this year Instagram will take their monetization more seriously and start to mirror what other platforms are doing.

Prediction #10: A New Social Media App of the Horizon

Again, I have no evidence for this one, but I think there will be a new app on the horizon. With the talk of the TikTok ban, I think it gives way for a new social media platform to rise up at some point this year. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new social media app take on the big ones. 

The takeover of TikTok happened around 2020, even though the app was popular before then. I just think it could be time for a new app to come into play. Let’s see! 

What do you think of these social media trends for 2025? Is there anything I missed? 

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