The global trends that shaped social in 2025
Thought Leadership
With an introduction from Global CEO, Toby Southgate and insights from our Global leaders, we have compiled a review of the past year, exploring the key trends and platforms shaping the global digital landscape.
2025 has been another year of maturation across the social landscape. Brands need to move faster and think in different ways to stay ahead – human beings move at the speed of social, and brands that can’t or don’t can slip behind quickly. At We Are Social, we pride ourselves in tracking where attention is shifting. Data from the last 12 months shows a clear pattern: people continue to move from passive consumption to purposeful action.
We are seeing audiences across all markets using platforms with far greater intent. This includes the search for community-led truth, the shift of primetime entertainment to digital channels, and the evolution of the social feed into a primary discovery engine. The behaviours defining 2025 prove that social is now the central infrastructure of the consumer journey. So it needs to be central to brand and communications thinking.
When we talk about social we don’t mean ‘just’ social media – we’re talking about fundamental human behaviours, helping brands understand how to engage effectively and authentically in ways that might feel new and uncomfortable.
To provide a global perspective on these shifts, we have collated insights from the brilliant humans that lead our businesses in APAC, North America and EMEA. Together they present a unified view of a diverse media environment that is more integral to brand growth than ever before.
The Rise of Reddit: The missing piece in your marketing strategy
By Suzie Shaw, APAC CEO at We Are Social
Once considered a niche corner of the internet, Reddit has quietly grown into one of the most influential digital platforms. As people increasingly turn away from traditional advertising and into more private, interest-led communities, Reddit has become the home of genuine advice, reviews and peer-to-peer truth-telling on virtually every topic imaginable.
For marketers, this is where the platform becomes a missed opportunity. Reddit is a high-intent environment. People arrive not to scroll passively, but to research, compare and decide. Studies show adding Reddit to a retail media mix can lift ROAS by 11–14%. Beyond performance, roughly 40% of Reddit’s 22 billion posts reference products or companies, making it an unrivalled insights engine. Recent analyses even suggest Reddit is one of the most frequently cited sources in AI models like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT — meaning Reddit communities increasingly shape what people read as “the answer.”
And yet, many brands avoid it. Reddit isn’t another media buy; it’s a trust-based ecosystem. For marketers, it offers something rare: a single space where culture, commerce and AI converge, and where consumers are actively seeking answers. Those who ignore it risk missing not just another channel, but a major shift in how decisions are made online. However, it’s a space that must be navigated carefully – with a native, community-first approach that respects the culture and earns trust.
Read more in “The Rise of Reddit: The missing piece in APAC’s marketing strategy” here.
Why YouTube Is the New Primetime (Both Online and Off!)
Rebecca Coleman, North America CEO
Looking back at 2025, one shift was impossible to ignore: YouTube fundamentally took ownership over where and how audiences find entertainment. For an entire generation, YouTube is now the primary screen, the undisputed default evening destination, and the place where culture emerges first, often before the traditional gatekeepers even realize a conversation has begun.
Long-form storytelling, creator-led series, live sports, expert commentary, late-night comedy, and the endless scroll of Shorts all in a single, powerful ecosystem. Yet, YouTube is routinely overlooked as a core social and content strategy platform.
This gap is costing brands. YouTube is now a multi-format ecosystem that drives short-form reach, long-form engagement, community-building, and search dominance. It’s one of the few places where brands can build audiences who actively seek out entertainment, education, deep dives, and trusted information. Not just passive feed impressions.
The time for a comprehensive, ecosystem-led YouTube strategy isn’t “coming.” It’s already here.
Read more in “Why YouTube Is the New Primetime (Both Online and Off!)” here.
How Brand Discovery on Social Accelerated in 2025
Jim Coleman, EMEA CEO
The data from our latest Global Digital Report shows that 44% of online adults use social media to research brands ahead of a potential purchase. But the real shift is happening with the next generation of consumers. Social networks are now the main media channel for audiences aged 16 to 34 when it comes to online brand research – a social scroll is outpacing traditional text-based search as the go-to discovery engine for young adults.
And social isn’t just the stepping stone; for many, it’s the final destination. With platforms increasingly looking to keep users in-app, ‘zero-click search’ on social – where people find the information they need (a product review, a tutorial) directly within the social platform’s search results or feed – is on the rise.
This is SEO – but with a twist. Brands don’t need to shout louder; they need to be smarter about how they show up. A presence alone isn’t enough – content has to work hard to hook viewers instantly, so bold visuals, attention-grabbing (SEO driven) copy and a distinctive POV is a must. Discoverability on social isn’t optional; it’s essential for relevance.
Read more in “How Brand Discovery on Social Accelerated in 2025” here.
These insights from across our regions confirm one thing: social has grown up. Users are no longer just scrolling; they are actively searching for answers, watching long-form content, making purchase decisions, and building relationships.
In this new landscape of high intent, the old playbook of chasing reach is breaking. For 2026, the mandate is not just to be seen, but to be felt. To stop interrupting culture and start shaping it.
We will be unpacking exactly how to navigate this evolution in our upcoming Think Forward report, which launches in January. This year marks a major shift for us, moving away from a traditional trends forecast to providing a strategic blueprint for brand growth. We will make it available, as always, across the industry, globally.
Until then, I wish you a wonderful holiday break and a happy New Year. Here’s to more progress and more change in 2026.