2024 Social Media Trends to Inform Your Strategy

2024 is almost upon us. No matter how quickly 2023 flew by, next year is looming. While 2023 was filled with innovation (Threads, anyone?), evolution (X-Twitter, if you will), and another healthy dose of existential crises (we haven’t had a boring year since 2020), social media kept on social media-ing.

So, in the face of a new year, what trends can you look forward to implementing into your 2024 social media strategy?

• Authenticity, specifically on LinkedIn

• Platform inclusivity

• Artificial intelligence aiding in content strategy and creation

Trend 1: Authenticity—Yes, Again!

You’ve been hearing about the importance of authentic content since 2020 when the modern world as we knew it ended. Creators began shedding their perfect influencer skins and revealed themselves to be just like you and I—normal people. Human beings. Funnily enough, it worked. The average consumer related more to that content than the glamorized version of their favorite online personalities that they’d been seeing.

Nothing has changed. (Well, lots of things have changed since then, but you know what I mean.) Authentic content still wins. At the end of the day, consumers can spot the differences between very polished, highly edited branded content and raw, real shots of humans and products ✨IRL✨. If we learned anything from the immediate popularity of Threads, it’s that users crave a low-pressure outlet for their everyday experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Even if Threads may not be as successful long-term as Meta may have hoped, it has certainly set the stage for content creation on other platforms in 2024. Say, for example, on LinkedIn.

Did you know? There are now just under 1 billion members on LinkedIn.

Did you know? There are now just under 1 billion members on LinkedIn.

Authentic Content on LinkedIn in 2024

Now, this may seem counterintuitive. In fact, you might be thinking to yourself, “But I just read that super-branded content doesn’t perform as well as authentic, raw content?” Your eyes did not, in fact, deceive you. But think of it more like coloring outside the lines in a coloring book. (The lines in this metaphor are LinkedIn’s reputation for housing professional, highly edited content where brands put their best feet forward. The color we want to add in 2024 is simply expanding upon what that could look like.)

In 2024, we’re expecting to see brands take some risks. Step outside of their “oh, just post our blog to LinkedIn every week and we’ll be fine” mentality and start treating their LinkedIn audiences like real human beings. Treat LinkedIn less like a highlight reel and more like a glimpse into the everyday lives of professionals and companies.

Trending content on LinkedIn in 2024 will look something like this. Brands should focus on creating content that shows them for who they are, not who they want to be. Begone, highlight reels!

Trend 2: Platform Inclusivity—Choose Your Player

Platforms want to be your one and only posting destination. Meta doesn’t want you to bounce to TikTok to post or view short-form video content, so they made Reels. Twitter, or X, doesn’t want you to leave the platform to make a call, so they have started to roll out an option for users that allows them to make audio and video calls.

Instagram is testing and rolling out new features all the time, many of which seem to conflict with their existing offerings. For example, on October 25, 2023, @mosseri updated the IG Updates broadcast channel about a new test that allows users to post selfie videos in Notes. This seems reminiscent of Stories (and Close Friends). Photos can be turned into stickers, which reminded me of Apple’s iOS 17 sticker update. Instagram is also testing polls in comments, AI image editing, keyword search, location tagging in Notes, public comment sharing, adding lyrics to Reels… the list goes on.

If you haven’t joined the IG Updates broadcast channel, here’s an example of what it looks like. (Also yes, I am still feeling spooky podcasts even after spooky season has ended!)

Some of these tests and updates are new things Instagram could genuinely need, like the photos into stickers option. But most of the updates are eerily reminiscent of other platform features. If all these tests end up making it into reality in 2024, creators might be less likely to, for example, use their YouTube community tab to run a poll, or they might post a Reel instead of a Story. Even certain Notes updates seem to conflict with the entire purpose of having a Threads account.

It’s not just Instagram, other platforms are conducting new feature tests that remind me of a lot of features on other platforms. This is something we can expect to see in 2024—platforms becoming an all-inclusive space for all your social media needs. Which will be your go-to?

Trend 3: AI Creating the Backbone for Smarter Social Media Content

Don’t worry, this isn’t a warning about AI coming for your job. It’s not. If anything, this 2024 social media trend will make your job easier and free up your time to make your content even better than it is now.

For example, YouTube is introducing new generative AI features for its premium subscribers. These features include a conversational tool that uses AI to answer questions and provide recommendations about YouTube's content and a comment summarization tool that organizes and summarizes discussions in video comments. The conversational tool uses large language models to engage with viewers, while the comment summarizer helps creators understand what their subscribers are discussing and may offer inspiration for new videos.

Additionally, the conversational tool will be initially available in the U.S. on Android devices for YouTube Premium members. The comment summarization tool will be available in English and will summarize published comments, excluding those held for review or containing blocked words. These features reflect YouTube's commitment to enhancing user engagement and content creation through AI-driven tools.

These new features are an example of how AI can be implemented into the content creation and brainstorming process. Creators can ask the chatbot what their audiences are talking about in the comments, or see what related content the algorithm picks up on their videos. Coming up with new video concepts just got easier.

Basically, if we were in a movie, AI would be the helpful wizard that guides the hero toward success. AI provides the tools the hero (you) needs, and they then go on to save the world. Dear brain fog, procrastination, writer’s block… you shall not pass!

Source: Know Your Meme

More, More, More Social Media in 2024!

It’s safe to say we can expect to see the innovation and experimentation we witnessed in 2023 continue into 2024. Expect to see platforms evolve into the perfect home for any type of post you can imagine. Change is on the horizon, especially for LinkedIn, where content will become less of a highlight reel and more of an autobiography. AI will give creators and marketers the tools they need for success—including, now, an actual strategy. Or at least the backbone of one. In 2024, more is more. More innovation, more content, more ideas. Who’s ready?