In the spirit of the 12 Days of Christmas, we’re back with another festive edition of 12 Stories of Social, spotlighting the trends, shifts, and moments that defined the creator economy in 2025.
This year delivered no shortage of plot twists: between creator empires, algorithm shakeups, social commerce, and streaming domination there’s a lot to unpack. Grab your hot cocoa and hop on the sleigh as we take you for a ride through the biggest social trends of the year.
🥁 12 Drummers Drumming: Episodic Content Takes Center Stage
Episodic content is officially all the rage. Brands are leaning into recurring formats, characters, and storylines to drive consistent engagement in an algorithm-driven world.
We saw it with Bilt’s Roomies, InStyle’s The Intern, and Converse’s partnership with Amelia Dimoldenberg on Chuckmates. And the consistency is winning – a familiar format and tone help audiences know what to expect and keep coming back for more.
🎶 11 Pipers Piping: The Beginning of the End of Social Media for Minors?
Australia made waves this year by officially banning social media for users under 16, launching what may become the most interesting social experiment of our time.
With Denmark, the European Union, and Malaysia watching closely, this move could spark a much larger global shift. If similar regulations follow, platforms and brands may be forced to rethink who social media is really for.
🤸 10 Lords a-Leaping: Creator Content Is Everywhere
Creator content has broken free from the confines of social platforms. Our own Sea Moss experiment earlier this year set the tone, and brands increasingly repurposed creator content across TV commercials, billboards, retail media, and beyond. Social content is no longer just for feeds, it’s becoming the backbone of modern marketing everywhere.
💃 9 Ladies Dancing: From “1-to-All” to “1-to-Few”
Public broadcasting is out and intimate interactions are in. People are gravitating toward smaller, more private spaces and platforms are investing accordingly. Instagram has been vocal about the growth of DMs and broadcast channels and they alongside TikTok released features that allow for shared feeds between friends, encouraging more social interaction.
🥛 8 Maids a-Milking: Creators Are the New Media Companies
From Netflix and Amazon to Tubi and YouTube (now watched on TVs more than phones), platforms are doubling down on creator-led programming, and creators like Alex Cooper and Steven Bartlett are building media empires.
For brands, the lesson is clear: partnerships can’t be one-off posts anymore. The most effective campaigns integrate social content, newsletters, podcasts, live events, and paid media into one cohesive strategy.
🦢 7 Swans a-Swimming: The Written Word Makes a Comeback
Thanks to platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, and LinkedIn, the written word is thriving again. As organic reach continues to decline on major social platforms, creators and brands alike are turning to newsletters as a reliable, high-engagement way to reach their audiences. Consistency, ownership, and direct access are winning (and a shoutout to our two favorite Substacks leading the charge: Link in Bio and ICYMI).
🥚 6 Geese a-Laying: B2B Goes B2C
B2B marketing stopped being boring. Ramp stole headlines with its NYC Office stunt featuring Brian Baumgartner, but they weren’t alone. Brands like Hootsuite, HubSpot, and Notion embraced consumer-style storytelling, humor, and culture, proving that B2B can be just as entertaining (and effective) as B2C.
💍 5 Gold Rings: IRL Experiences Are Back
Creators like Alex Cooper can reach millions from their beds, but they’re choosing “in real life” tours, meetups, and pop-ups instead. Why? Because audiences are craving real-world connection. Expect even more creator-led IRL experiences in 2026, alongside a growing focus on digital detoxing and “touching grass,” especially among younger generations.
🐦 4 Calling Birds: Streaming Goes Mainstream
If Justin Bieber launches a streaming channel, you know it’s hit mass adoption. Kai Cenat may be the most famous creator on the planet, with even artists and celebrities eager for his recognition. Marathon streams are proving to be powerful cultural moments and highly effective ways to capture massive audiences.
🐓 3 French Hens: Social Commerce Has Arrived
Social commerce didn’t just arrive, it showed up in style. During this year’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, social media drove 3.4% of all Black Friday online sales and accounted for 15% of global Thanksgiving traffic. TikTok Shop hit $500M in U.S. sales.
If you’re not experimenting with live streams to drive sales, 2026 might be the year to start.
🕊️ 2 Turtle Doves: The Rise of the Interest Graph
We have completely moved to interest graphs and the experience of social has changed forever. Creators are sharing screenshots of posts barely reaching their followers, while simultaneously performing well with non-followers. Predictability is gone. This shift explains the explosion of newsletters, episodic content, private communities, and IRL experiences as creators and brands seek stability beyond the algorithm.
🌳 Partridge in a Pear Tree: The Death of Monoculture?
YouTube Rewind once united the internet and 2025 marked YouTube’s 20-year anniversary. Raising a big question: Do monoculture moments still exist?
Today, we all live in algorithmically curated corners, consuming entirely different content. In Ogilvy’s recent “Fandom Flux,” 91% of 18- to 25-year-olds say “mainstream” pop culture no longer exists. Universal awareness is rare, and culture is increasingly fragmented. The algorithms have taken over and the internet may never feel the same.
Final Thoughts
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that social is more fragmented, more creator-led, and more experiential than ever before. The brands and creators winning are the ones building deeper connections across platforms, formats, and real-world moments.
See you in 2026… and don’t forget to enjoy the sleigh ride.
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