What's in and out for 2025
We hope every single one of you is getting some much-needed downtime this week. Safe to say we all need this break… [existence fatigue, am I right?]
As we wrap up the year, we wanted to hop on the annual trend of making some predictions for what the new year will bring. While we don’t advise anyone to put too much stock in these lists, it is fun to think about what we should bring with us into a new chapter.
Call them predictions, preferences, or far-out dreams, but this is what we’re thinking about for 2025.
IN
🫶 Impact Creators - If you’ve been here for awhile, you know about our research with GoFundMe that found Gen Z’s growing interest [and, more importantly, trust] in impact creators. They make content that moves people to help. As the world becomes more challenging and complex by the day, people will be craving this inspiring content. Here are a few to follow.
💻 Newsletters - Everyone had a podcast, now everyone has a newsletter. Is there a better way to reach people than right in their inboxes? We ❤️ Substack but the trend can’t and won’t be limited to one platform, so get ready to sign up for your faves on LinkedIn, Ghost, and Beehiiv, too.
🧑People as faces of brands - We don’t just mean the obvious like beauty brands, and we don’t just mean creators. As trust shifts from brands to individuals, and not every brand has a mascot like the Duolingo bird, more Marketing teams will focus their efforts on far-reaching brand deals that include more than a few TikTok videos. And they will also double down on employee advocacy programs, hopefully learning from that Chick-fil-A disaster.
🤸Flexibility - You wouldn’t know it based on how American CEOs talk about RTO, but people still want flexibility! In fact, 95% of working professionals say they want remote work in some form—whether hybrid or fully remote. Let’s take advantage of AI in the right way, let’s get freelancers to boost output, let’s look at how the 4-day work week is happening successfully in some parts of the world [👀 Iceland].
✍️ Long-form content - Short videos reign supreme but as we see more newsletters, and the podcasting industry’s pivot to video, we expect [and want!] to see longer, in-depth content from people. Especially as the news industry continues to fracture, places like YouTube and Substack will be great homes for the analysis that complex topics require.
Some of our other INs include: Reddit and other alternate social platforms, executive social strategies (we’re here if you need us), social media breaks, and nostalgia.
OUT
🤖 Relying too much on AI for content - We don’t know what happened with Spotify Wrapped this year, but we’ve all got some guesses. AI is great for so many things, but it can’t replace creativity in content. And if you are going to use AI for trend content, please at least look to the AI trends people are actually using.
🐦 Twitter - What more is there to say on this topic? We’re not yet sold on any of the other platforms being a real replacement, but think Threads still has the best shot.
🛑 Performative DEI - There will probably be a lot of DEI discourse in 2025, and a lot of the companies who were being a bit more performative about it are already rolling those policies back. In the long run, the brands who stay committed will be rewarded.
🥀 Dating apps - It feels like dating apps are out, and dating influencers are in. TBD if that’s a good thing but dating exhaustion seems to be the most common theme out there these days. We’re interested to see how this conversation continues to evolve as Gen Z gets older.
Some of our other OUTs include: Possibly TikTok [by force], labeling personal brand-building as “cringe”, legacy media overlooking and underestimating news creators, and overconsumption.
What’s on your Ins and Outs list? Let us know in the comments!