This is the last Future Social of the year! Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve are Wednesdays, so I’m taking the next few weeks off for some R&R, a little 2026 business planning, and to finish off Pluribus & Stranger Things.

But first, we get to wildly speculate about the future of social media, anddd you should swing by this online event tomorrow (that has over 20,000 RSVPs?!)

I’m giving a free digital talk TOMORROW with a bunch of other smart advertising folks

Pretty geeked about this one. I’m speaking at Motion’s 2026 Creative Trends event this month alongside some folks I genuinely look up to, and it’s totally free to watch.

I’m sharing this idea I’ve been working on: The Only 2 Social Best Practices. I really do think if you just get these two things right, your content can sing. But I’m sticking around to see what Oren & Dara & Elfried & everyone else is sharing. Super smart format: we’re all giving focused 10 minute talks so you get quick takeaways.

RSVP right over here—we’re doing some Q&A, too, so you can ask me all your 2026 social questions as well!

I only have one social media prediction for 2026

I published 36 social media predictions last year—blend of my own takes + thoughts from all you lovely readers. We went deep with platform-specific thoughts, trends about the trends, and constant debate about the future of TikTok.

This year? I started gathering ideas for another round-up, but realized… well, I realized I didn’t really believe in any of the predictions I was seeing in my LinkedIn feed. Lots of AI chatter, plenty of “video is the future,” so much Creator talk, and people somehow still thinking “be authentic” is a new idea.

I don’t even think they’re wrong—they’re just… tired, and missing the point.

So you don’t get a list out of me this year.

You get one single prediction, that I really hope you pay attention to.

Social media won’t meaningfully change in 2026. But most brands struggled to compete in the 2025 social feeds, and will only get further left behind without some serious change.

A flooded feed turns social into a brutal meritocracy

The biggest shift of the last few years isn’t a feature or a format—it’s volume.

Social is frictionless now. CapCut’s one of the most downloaded free apps, Instagram has 3 billion users, anyone with an iPhone can make something “good enough,” and *TikTok voice* everybody’s so creative! There’s more content than ever, and that’s without even mentioning how AI will flood the feeds.

But good news! The whole point of algorithms are to sift through mountains of content to push the best videos to the right audiences. TikTok, Meta, and YouTube have the most sophisticated content sorting we’ve ever seen. Social media is truly a meritocracy, where really excellent content can significantly outperform your follower count.

So, despite the oncoming tidal wave of memes & vids & Stephen Hawking Sora clips about to enter your feed—if you make great content, your content will still get seen.

But brands, I’m gonna be honest with you.

You’re getting your ass kicked right now, and every brand has to get significantly better at social to compete in 2026.

Don’t give me the “it’s harder for brands.” It’s not. We’re paid to be experts, and we’re consistently losing to at-home part-time creators. That shouldn’t happen. We have to learn how to make great content that consistently competes on the For You Page. It’s literally our jobs.

How brands can compete in the 2026 social media landscape

The brands that’ll win 2026 social media won’t be focused on innovation—they’ll double down on fundamentals & everything they should’ve already been doing.

Video is mandatory. Not optional, not a test, not “we’re experimenting.” Short-form vertical video is the official language of social media now. It’s the most consumed type of content, it’s a content type that can be placed on every single social network, and it’s the content with the most potential for virality.

Social teams need permission. Brands & CMOs can’t demand performance while locking everything behind approvals, legal anxiety, and brand paranoia. The brands winning right now trust their social teams to take real swings. You don’t get upside without risk.

Social content’s gotta start with emotional insights. This essay isn’t license to make random trend content for viral attempts—that doesn’t do a damn thing for your business. Social team’s gotta get better at marketing 101, understanding the emotional needs of their intended consumer, understanding the emotional benefit your brand/product provides, and translating all that into compelling content.

The social content ideas just plain gotta get better. Think like a creator. Learn from the content in your feed. Reverse engineer what videos are doing numbers. Brainstorm on a brand level, a campaign level, and a tactical level. Quadruple the amount of time you spend thinking and really challenge your own ideas. Go to your favorite creators and brands’ social pages, sort by “most popular,” and study what worked for them.

Any brand that isn’t committed to all four will be left behind in 2026.

Social’s gonna be the same in 2026, but I hope your brand isn’t.

It’s time we all got really, really good at making content. We have the coolest jobs in the whole damn world. It’s an absolute privilege to get paid to create, and we need to do what it takes to make really great brand social content.