SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA KEEPS CHANGING,
BUT MAGAZINES DON’ T( AND NEVER WILL) By Abbey Fullarton
The social media marketing landscape in 2025 is undergoing significant changes due to constant algorithm updates, advancements in artificial intelligence, user fatigue, and an unexpected resurgence of nostalgia and analog formats. As both brands and users adjust, the distinctions between digital and analog, authentic and artificial, have become more clearly defined than ever.
Algorithm Overload And Digital Exhaustion
Social media feeds nowadays are mainly driven by algorithms, with no central platform maintaining a chronological timeline. YouTube, for instance, phased out its universal Trending page, replacing it with personalized feeds curated by its recommendation AI. TikTok and Instagram continually update their algorithms,
“ Social media’ s evolution in 2025 tells a story of tension: between synthetic content and the search for authenticity, between community niches and mass reach, and between short-form noise and long-form depth.”
prioritizing content that keeps users scrolling the longest, with little transparency or predictability for both creators and brands.
As a result, brands find themselves in a constant cycle of change: what works this month might become outdated the next. In this fast-moving landscape, everyone— from influencers to marketers— is turning to AI to maintain the necessary volume and variety of content. According to Exploding Topics, more than 80 % of marketers save time by automating tasks with AI, from drafting captions to creating images and even powering chatbots for instant customer interaction.
The Age Of AI: Efficiency And Uncertainty
AI isn’ t just about speeding things up; it’ s fundamentally changing how content is discovered and believed. Brands must now optimize for both traditional search and AI-generated overviews
30 | TulipMediaGroup. com