The Social Reset: Takeaways from GWI’s Social Media Insights

In this blog, we dive into the data and discuss that if brands want to succeed on social media, they should focus on authenticity, community and value-driven content.

• Social platforms are evolving into search engines and research hubs, not just entertainment channels.
• Community-driven spaces are growing as users seek deeper connections. Private, niche conversations are just as valuable as public feeds, if not more so.
• Video content is now essential, with engagement metrics like watch time and shares replacing vanity metrics.
• Influencer marketing is shifting toward trust, prioritizing niche relevance over follower count.

Shifting From Social Entertainment to Discovery

For years and years, social was as much an entertainment sphere as it was a place to learn what your friends and family were up to. Now, though, with many Google searches ending queries with  “+ Reddit,” it’s clear that consumers turn to social media for their daily news updates, conduct product research and seek out connections. It’s essentially like asking for recommendations from people you trust.

Social apps like Threads, Reddit and Telegram gained traction in 2025 as hubs for conversation and community, not just for watching funny videos or passively scrolling through feeds. GWI found a staggering 71% uptick in TikTok users searching for information on products and brands since 2021. 

To stay relevant, brands should try reaching out, too. Obviously, you want to reach your goals and make sales, but it’s clear that building trust and community are key parts of keeping up with consumer expectations. Create content that informs your audiences, sparking conversations and growing your community. To capitalize on in-social searches, make sure your bases are covered with content that answers common questions about your solutions.

The Rise of Private, Purpose-Driven Spaces

On the note of relevancy, curating a space where your audience feels empowered to hold meaningful conversations is one of the best ways to put your best foot forward in today’s social spaces.

Gen Z and Millennials crave opportunities to connect, whether in DMs, group chats or private communities. Reddit’s model of content validation is popular for this reason. 39% of Reddit users engaged with a private community in the past month, according to GWI.

Consider participating not by blasting out content to the masses but by creating a niche, community-led space. Whether you choose to investigate creating or overhauling a branded subreddit, curating a private Facebook group or just making your DMs as personal as possible (even with a chatbot!), these are all good places to start strategizing how to help your audience find their voice.

Your Video Strategy Is Critical

If your video strategy is lagging or even nonexistent, it’s time to start going full steam ahead. Video is now a huge part of social media. Gen Z thrives on video-based platforms like YouTube and TikTok, but even social bastions of older generations like LinkedIn are shifting toward video-focused feeds. Over a quarter of LinkedIn users watched a video on the platform in the last month, per GWI. 

Consumers have moved from passively viewing to active engagement, rewarding videos with prime-time metrics like saves, shares and conversations. 

With video-first feeds like Reels on Instagram taking over and receiving more preferential treatment in your strategy, you should shift your KPIs to focus less on follower count and likes and more on metrics like:

• Watch time
• Post shares 
• Video completion rates

This will give you an accurate read of modern-day success (though large follower counts should definitely still be applauded).

Transparency & Trust With AI Use

While you may be eager to deploy AI as part of your content and customer service strategies, consider how it will land with your audiences. Although AI is gaining ground, consumers want transparency with its usage. When someone online is interacting with AI-generated content or placing an order through an AI agent, they want to know for certain that what they’re seeing or speaking to is AI.

Labeling AI-generated content matters. It helps consumers trust your source. Hybrid approaches, with combined AI and human-created elements, work best to keep your processes going fast and provide that human connection online users still crave.

In other words, don’t use AI to replace your content or customer service. Use it to scale your operations, like trained agents working for your company. Build trust by being upfront where you’re using AI, and make sure it’s enhancing the experience, not dominating it.

Influencer Marketing: Credibility Beats Trends

Influencers are a sustained part of social media, and they’re here to stay. It ties into that desire for purpose-driven marketing that consumers are seeking. Influencers aren’t just followed for the hype, but for the values they share with their audience and the solutions they provide readers. 

Needs-based marketing beats aspirational fluff hands-down. 41% of influencer followers choose to follow them because they’re meeting a current need, per GWI. It’s why localized influencers, like a food influencer who covers only their city or a hyperspecific influencer who talks about a niche hobby, work so well. 

If you want to incorporate influencer marketing into your social strategy (and we’d recommend it if you’re running events or want to showcase a product), choose influencers based on your audience’s alignment and problem-solving relevance, not just their social reach.