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Social Media in 2025 Will Look a LOT Different
Here's what will change.
Roberto Nickson
October 31, 2024
Welcome back to The Signal, a weekly letter where I share stories, trends, strategies and insights to help you level up as a creator and win on the internet.
Today’s topics:
Social Media in 2025
The Rise of Robotics
Social Media is about to change…
Social media will look a lot different in 2025. You guys know that I love the art and science behind content. We’ve already started to see some of the trends I list below starting to emerge.
1. AI is Taking Over…
The proliferation of the use of AI in the creative process has been a sight to behold.
I think 2025 is the year that just about every creator integrates AI in some capacity into their workflows.
But a growing number of creators will start using AI clones in place of actually filming themselves for video content. This will be a massive wave in the coming year.
For more context, I made a reel on this very topic and I also spoke about this very shift starting at 10:25 on a podcast with Calum Johnson.
2. The Content Diamond
One of the most effective content strategies is what’s generally referred to as the top-down strategy.
I call it the Content Diamond, and I think it’s going to pick up aggressively in 2025. It’s definitely the way I will approach content in the coming year.
Basically, you start with one grand idea – one overarching, long-form piece of content like a YouTube video or newsletter entry. This is your rough, large, uncut gem. The big valuable item.
But to maximize the value of an uncut gem, you want to break it down into several stones. This makes it more marketable, appealing to a broader range of buyers as it can be customized to their liking.
It’s the same with content.
One giant idea can then be broken down into several bite-sized components, uniquely repurposed for the platform they will live on.
In essence this could look like:
Generate a big, high-performing, conversation-provoking idea
Write a long newsletter
Use the newsletter as the basis for a YouTube video
Create a short-form video provoking curiosity that funnels into the long-form elements
Repurpose into into a Tweet, Thread, etc.
3. The Death of the Follower Count
One of the biggest trends over the last few years in social was the death of the follower count. Jack Conte described this as well as anyone in this video.
In the 2010’s, it was quite simple. The more followers you had, the more your content was seen. The emergence of ranking algorithms made this very competitive, as your content had to outperform the content from every other account that someone who followed you also followed.
In the 2020’s, modern algorithms have all “TikTokified.”
This made things hyper-competitive. Your content has to now outperform every other piece of content that is published on the platform.
Of course, there are benefits to the over-emphasis on discovery. It was easier to reach more new people, faster.
The data is clear. The platforms are more profitable, creators enjoy the virality, and audiences seem to prefer it by how much time they spend on the platform.
So I expect this trend to continue in 2025.
But, more and more creators are realizing that relationship building and community tools have more long-term value than quick virality. What’s the point of amassing a following if you can’t reach them?
I think every creator should have a newsletter, like this one. Or at least a mailing list where they can reach people reliably.
4. YouTube vs. Netflix
YouTube will become the new TV. For many people, it already is. But YouTube’s new TV app (where well over 50% of their 2.2 billion users consume it from) is looking more like Netflix than ever. Smart creators will play into the new identity of the platform, creating show formats.
I think that a YouTube ‘show’ or series is the ultimate north star for just about any creator. For me – it is the thing I really want to do. I just haven’t quite cracked the format. I think it’s one of the hardest things to do well and be successful with, especially in the coming gold rush.
5. Offline is the new Online
Offline is the new luxury. People are craving offline experiences more than ever, especially Gen-Z.
Brands and creators alike will invest more in physical experiences.
6. Rise of Immersion (AR/VR)
While I don’t see any significant increase in adoption of mixed reality headsets in 2025, I do think we see an uptick in mixed reality content, for two reason:
The first is that the creation tools are more widely available. The latest iPhones record spatial video. Canon has just released an entry-level VR lens.
The second reason is that this game is becoming ultra hyper-competitive. Every day it becomes more difficult to stand out. One way to do so is to begin to create immersive mixed reality content. That way you’re also ready in case the adoption curve for XR devices ever goes parabolic.
I would like to create and release an immersive VR ‘experience’ sometime in 2025.
7. More Money for Creators, But…
According to CreatorIQ, creator marketing spend has increased 143% in the past four years, with a 19% jump from 2023 to 2024.
“Influencer Marketing Manager” ranks as one of LinkedIn’s fastest growing role.
By all accounts, creator marketing investment will continue to rise.
But the way that capital is allocated will change dramatically, because of the aforementioned ‘death of the follower.’
The most important metric that now matters for marketers is your engagement rate – and more specifically the performance of your last 10 videos.
8. Rise of Niche Communities
I think that we will see people spending more time on niche-specific communities vs. the big general platforms in 2025.
I think this is one of the big reasons Reddit has recently become profitable for the first time ever off the strength of its explosive growth.
The big platforms have noticed, and Threads is actually working on a community feature called Loops. Speaking of Threads…
9. Threads is a Big Play
I’m not saying this because I’m very active on Threads – I am very active on Threads because I am saying this:
There is an arbitrage opportunity currently on the platform.
Anecdotal, sure, but it very much feels like the only major platform where there is a supply deficit for the demand.
The statistics seem to correspond this:
I expect 2025 to be a breakout year for Threads, especially when it comes to content strategy for creators.
The Rise of Robotics
I don’t think most people realize how fast robotics is progressing. In particular, consumer humanoid robots.
It reminds me a lot of AI up until November 2022. Extraordinary progress was being made, but the average consumer didn’t realize it until the ‘ChatGPT’ moment.
My guess is we may have that watershed moment in the next year or two with robotics.
If you are a creator looking for serious wind behind your sails, I might recommend studying this stuff intimately and becoming a voice and educator in this space. It will be incredible lucrative as hundreds of billions of dollars floods into the industry and the major players will increasingly allocate funds towards creator marketing.
There will be high demand and search volume as progress goes parabolic over the next decade.
Here are some companies to keep an eye on:
Boston Dynamics and Atlas
1x Robotics and NEO
Speaking of 1x, this was me at their HQ a few weeks ago:
Things I’m Loving Lately
This section includes products, services, creators and more that I'm loving lately. Everything below is organic and non-sponsored unless indicated.
‣ My guilty pleasure lately has been binging cinematography and lighting channels on YouTube. I wanted to shout out a few that I’ve learned a lot from: Brady, Lewis and Mark.
‣ One of my favorite tech media publications is 404 media, which is only a year old. Phenomenal journalism and great taste, highly recommend it.
Quick Hits
This section includes things I have found interesting and helpful this week.
‣ Trung explains the techniques Apple uses to catch leakers.
‣ Alex reveals that his company Osmo AI has digitized scent! I made a video about this here explaining what this means in layman’s terms.
