This is such excellent, thorough work. I love how open your respondents are with you, and the illustrations and design make this fun to keep reading until the end. THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK.
I just want to add here that it's okay to not feel good about working in social media right now! It means your moral compass hasn't been deadened despite Silicon Valley's aggressive attempts to do so. Yes, you're complicit if you work in it--but that also means you have agency. The work is figuring out what you're going to do about it!
Great summary. As a strategist leading international marketing, I’ve personally moved everything onto our own server - our website is the centre of gravity. Social media only drive traffic there, and we’re building the whole ecosystem in‑house. I’m not counting on social platforms anymore; I can feel in my bones that something is going to shift, and you’ll want to actually own your content and your traffic.
Such a good read, Rachel! What stands out to me is the gap between the priority platforms and the rising ones. Reddit and Substack are still small numbers, but climbing fast YoY, and that's the real tell about where attention is heading. I've worked in brand partnerships at Reddit for years, and from where I sit, the AEO shift is a big conversation as brands sort through their visibility strategy.
This is such excellent, thorough work. I love how open your respondents are with you, and the illustrations and design make this fun to keep reading until the end. THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK.
emily!!!! thank you!!!!!
An odd kind of validation for those who thought "social media" stopped being social a long time ago....
I just want to add here that it's okay to not feel good about working in social media right now! It means your moral compass hasn't been deadened despite Silicon Valley's aggressive attempts to do so. Yes, you're complicit if you work in it--but that also means you have agency. The work is figuring out what you're going to do about it!
Great summary. As a strategist leading international marketing, I’ve personally moved everything onto our own server - our website is the centre of gravity. Social media only drive traffic there, and we’re building the whole ecosystem in‑house. I’m not counting on social platforms anymore; I can feel in my bones that something is going to shift, and you’ll want to actually own your content and your traffic.
Such a good read, Rachel! What stands out to me is the gap between the priority platforms and the rising ones. Reddit and Substack are still small numbers, but climbing fast YoY, and that's the real tell about where attention is heading. I've worked in brand partnerships at Reddit for years, and from where I sit, the AEO shift is a big conversation as brands sort through their visibility strategy.