We Checked In On Social Media Trend Predictions for 2024 — Here’s What Came True and What Didn’t

At the beginning of 2024, we were unsure what would come out of this year. The previous year had been such a whirlwind with the rise of decentralized social and the addition of AI features that creators, brands, and platforms had all started to redefine how they would operate. It was an exciting and fast-paced turning point, making it difficult to imagine what would come next.

That’s why, when asking experts for their 2024 social media predictions at the start of this year, we intentionally focused on “themes” rather than hard “predictions.”

From the rise of LinkedIn as a creator hub to the growing importance of authenticity and private communities, we’ve decided to revisit these themes to see what came to fruition and what didn’t.

In this 2024 predictions review, we’ll dive into how this year panned out in social through the lens of these themes, exploring what came true, where we didn’t quite hit the mark, and the lessons for creators and brands alike.

Let’s look at the themes that shaped social media in 2024.

Very accurate: A new frontier for influencers and brands on LinkedIn

Prediction: LinkedIn will become a hotspot for influencer marketing and creative content.

LinkedIn saw quite the surge in 2024, as social media newsletter writers Lia Haberman and Lindsey Gamble accurately predicted. Specifically, they pinned it as the next frontier for creator growth and influencer marketing — and they were right.

Don’t just take our word for it — related terms saw significant surges in the past year, according to Google Trends, with “LinkedIn creator” up 5% in the past year and “LinkedIn influencer” up 17%.

Throughout 2024, there was a rise in sponsored content and brand partnerships, supported by enhanced analytics within LinkedIn, features like the Brand Partnership label, and third-party tools. Creators could more easily collaborate with brands, and collaborate they did.

More than ever, brands are tapping into creators with a specific blend of professionalism and creativity, like Jayde Powell with the AI video tool OpusClip and Nathan Jun Poekert with luggage brand Away.

Agencies like Creator Match and CreatorBuzz contribute heavily to this evolution, connecting brands and creators to generate lucrative and successful partnerships on LinkedIn.

Beyond external influencers and partners, LinkedIn saw a rise in employee-generated content. Executives, social media managers, and employees brought an authentic voice to the platform, increasing engagement for their companies and growing their personal brands.

Very accurate: The era of authenticity and personalization

Prediction: A shift towards authentic, long-form content and personalized connections will reshape content creation, emphasizing genuine interactions and niche communities.

Annie-Mai Hodge, founder of Girl Power Marketing, can take the credit for predicting the shift from short-form content as platforms like TikTok and Instagram began embracing longer video formats.

Google Trends corroborates the continued interest in long-form, with searches for the term “long form video” up 35% in past year.

TikTok, for instance, tested 60-minute video uploads as well as a landscape video format, enabling creators to try out different formats for storytelling and offer more comprehensive content.

This shift catered to audiences seeking more substantial and authentic connections with creators and vice versa.

Niche content also continued to find loyal followings, highlighting the value of being “real” over being “viral.” This trend led to the rise of micro-influencers — creators with smaller but highly engaged followings — offering personalized content and building trust within niche communities.

An example that stands out is fashion creator Elysia Berman documenting her “no-buy” journey towards becoming debt-free on TikTok.

Brands recognized the value of these authentic voices, leading to more collaborations with micro-influencers to reach targeted audiences effectively.

AI also played a heavy role in this prediction.

For platforms, AI-driven algorithms analyze user behavior to curate content feeds tailored to individual preferences. This means better discovery of smaller and smaller creators that fit hyper-specific niches.

For creators, AI assistance provides a winning combination of increased production volume with increased consistency, leading to higher engagement across the board, as we discovered in our data analysis of AI-assisted posts generated in Buffer.

Accurate, but not in the way you think: Creators move beyond content creation

Prediction: Creators would expand beyond traditional content into entrepreneurship, entertainment, or corporate roles.

Lia Haberman accurately predicted that we would see more creators expanding beyond content creation. This did end up being true, as we saw through creators like Lexi Larson launching her loungewear brand Sunday Cherries and documenting each step of the way.

Another great example of this is finance creator Aleks Petrakieva, who documented her journey to becoming debt-free, as well as how she was working towards other financial goals. She created and now sells a debt tracker and budgeting template that net her thousands of dollars a month.

However, at least anecdotally, I saw this trend playing out the other way around as well, through “founder-led social.”

This year saw business owners increasingly getting vulnerable and documenting their journey, wins and fails, along with the ins and outs of starting and running a business.

Some notable examples include Grace Beverley, founder of TALA, and Shreddy. Grace uses TikTok, Instagram and YouTube to share her entrepreneurial experiences, offering transparency into the challenges and successes of building her brands.

Another example is Fisayo Longe, founder of Kai Collective, who shared her journey of establishing and growing the brand, as well as the story of how popular products from her brand came to be.

This trend reflects a broader movement where entrepreneurs use content creation not just for marketing but also to build trust, share knowledge, and foster community engagement.

Accurate: The rise of private communities

Prediction: Private communities would gain traction as alternatives to mainstream platforms.

Rachel Karten, social expert and writer of the Link in Bio newsletter, noted that we would see a shift towards private communities as a response to the unpredictability of social algorithms and the desire for deeper connections.

These private, niche communities offer a sense of belonging and a safe space for genuine interactions, free from the toxicity and polarization often found on larger social media platforms.

The biggest signal of a shift to community-driven social is all the attention the decentralized social and the Fediverse received this year.

Between Bluesky exploding in popularity and Threads adding in fediverse capabilities, there’s a clear hunger for community-first social platforms.

We saw this play out over the year through Meta’s expanded features for WhatsApp communities and Instagram broadcast channels.

In my estimation, this stronger focus on community means that going into 2025, social interactions will become more fragmented but intimate. It’ll be up to community leaders to create spaces and offer experiences that build trust and loyalty with their audience.

Accurate: Long-form video cements YouTube’s No.1 spot

Prediction: YouTube would solidify its position as the leader in long-form content.

Brett Dashevsky, founder and organizer of Creator Economy NYC observed creators leaning into lightly produced, long-form content on YouTube. He predicted that this shift among creators signified that YouTube offers more value to its creators and audience.

We saw this play out in reality with popular fashion creator Wisdom Kaye restarting his YouTube channel as well as lifestyle creator Eni Popoola. They are just two of the many creators who added long-form videos to their content roster.

I’ll be honest in saying that it’ll take a while before anyone tips YouTube’s long-form video crown. The platform spent 2024 not just maintaining its edge but actively reinforcing it. As predicted, creators increasingly embraced long-form content, with smaller creators also benefitting as YouTube’s algorithm worked to surface niche channels to wider audiences.

YouTube’s 2024 Global Culture & Trends Report backs up the growth of long-form in 2024. The report spotted that YouTube had become a competitor for traditional TV and even streaming services. A standout example? The popularity of the animated series Amazing Digital Circus, which amassed over 25 billion related video views globally — even excluding official episodes. The show was so popular that Netflix agreed to stream it at the same time it was published to YouTube.

The platform’s ability to support everything from short videos to polls to interactive long-form videos makes it the most versatile hub for creators.

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

But even as creators repurpose long-form videos for these smaller bites, the platform’s foundation is as strong as ever. Expect YouTube to continue leading the pack in supporting creators and audiences that love long-form video content.

What’s ahead in 2025?

Our focus on themes paid off — we saw each one of the predictions for 2024 play out in some form or another.

As always, these predictions aren’t based on empirical data but rather informed opinions, it’s always satisfying to see how many come true.

We’re working on our predictions for 2025, so watch out for those in the new year. Check out predictions and reviews of previous years.

5 Themes We Expect to See Across Social Media in 2024 (ft. Expert Contributions)

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