Social media has never been more polished, more optimised, more engineered, and yet somehow it feels less social than ever.

Gone are the big-night-out blurry photo albums, public wall conversations, oversharing and messy human-ness that organically happened in the early years of “social” – the naivety that became the birthplace of Millennial Cringe.

In their place: curated grids, brand-safe trend-jacking and content designed to perform rather than connect. The result is more output, more spend with a diminishing emotional return.

Back in 2023 many were declaring the “death of social media”. In reality, social didn’t die, it can’t. It was and still is too big for that to happen - holding too much value to the powers-that-be. 

That’s why we’ve seen such a change. A matured, monetised and professionalised expression where new media is acting like legacy media once did. The platforms are media channels. Brands are publishers. Feeds are shop windows. 

The Media part of the term got bigger and became the emphasis. The Social part became a shadow of its former self.

But people haven’t stopped craving social connection – they’ve just stopped finding it in feeds.

According to Ofcom, UK adults now spend more than four hours a day online on average, yet reports of loneliness and social disconnection continue to rise. This is possibly connected to the bombshell from the AA/Warc Expenditure Report that, for the first time, 80%+ of marketing investment was made in digital channels. Brands are most certainly making themselves heard on Social Media, but are they showing up in a way that the consumers actually want?

Mintel’s trend reports over the past three years chart a compelling story: 2024’s “Relationship Renaissance” captured the post-pandemic desire to reconnect; 2025’s “Linked Lives” showed micro-communities forming around shared passions; but in 2026, a switch - The Affection Deficit. After years of automation, polarisation and algorithmic comfort, people are finding it easier to stay indoors, forgetting how to relate IRL. 

But there is a glimmer of hope; they know they need the human texture of life (and other people's lives) to thrive in this world. So we’re seeing crowds of people turning up in Brooklyn to smoke a cigarette with some random guy and, thanks to Heineken, turning up to watch the football with another.

If brands want to make an impact in 2026, they need to stop thinking of social as the end product and start treating it as the spark.

Because real discoverability comes from ideas that move through people, not platforms.

Our Social should ignite behaviours in the real world:

Conversation

Participation

Belonging

IRL used to be an opportunity for brands. Now it’s a responsibility. But when done properly, it pays dividends and then some.

Marty Supreme seemed to be everywhere. What I remember most is the merch: the matching orange outfits at the premiers, the meet and greets, Timmy on Zoom selling his ideas to a team of dejected marketeers. Oh, and the blimp.

It worked. Real won. Connection won. A24 won. Cinemas were full and they got their biggest release ever. 

Netflix recognised that people want to take in part of culture together and dived into cinema for the final of the Stranger Things saga. A move that paid off for all involved, hitting a $25M Box Office record.

For years now, we’ve seen a collapse of third spaces: Pubs closing, live music venues in decline, clubs obsolete (so I’m hearing). Which leaves a space for brands to play in – they have the reach, budgets and creativity to help spark more human connection and integrate themselves into the lives of consumers in new and meaningful ways.

Ironically, some of the best inspiration comes from the industry hit hardest: hospitality. That decline has meant they have had to change tack… innovate and try new things, like building communities instead of campaigns: Independent running clubs tied to cafés. Limited-seat experiences that feel designed for a specific tribe rather than “everyone”.

Cultural momentum rarely starts with mass reach. It starts with belonging. This is where we can capitalise, but it’s this same point at which many brands can hesitate. Starting niche can feel risky. But culture moves outward, not inward. When you design for a defined group who feel seen and valued, they invite others in. When you design for everyone, you resonate with no one.

If brands want to bring the social back to social media, here are three practical shifts to make.

First, start with behaviour, not channels. What do you want people to do, feel or become? If the answer is “watch this”, go back and start again. If the answer is “show up”, “join in”, or “take part”, you’re moving in the right direction.

Second, let’s create an emotional pull strong enough to compete with the safety of home. In 2026, your biggest competitor isn’t another brand. It’s comfort. People are happy in their routines and screens. The job isn’t to push them into something new. It’s to make the experience compelling enough that staying home feels like missing out.

Third, give people something worth sharing. Even as audiences look to escape screens, their online presence remains a valuable currency. The question isn’t whether they will post, it’s whether you’ve given them a story that earns a place in their feed. Sharing should feel like a natural extension of the experience, not an obligation.

At a time when debate often turns into argument and difference feels harder to navigate face-to-face, brands have scale, platforms and creative power. They can create spaces, both physical and digital, where people gather around something positive. Music. Sport. Food. Fandom. Shared passions that cut across algorithmic echo chambers.

The future of social isn’t more content. It’s more connection.

The most discoverable brands in 2026 won’t just create a presence online. They’ll create a presence in the real world and let Social Media do what it was always meant to do: be really social.