Marketers are embracing messiness after years of cultural sanitisation and emotional suppression and taking risks, according to We Are Social’s Think Forward 2025: The Liveable Web report.
Compiled by the creative agency’s Cultural Insights team and supported by a survey of 500 global marketing decision-makers, it predicts the key trends shaping social media over the next year.
The report identifies backlash against a treadmill of micro-trends, notifications and noise online. It describes how people are pushing back against the prevailing culture of “more” – more content, faster trend cycles, ever higher, more unattainable goals – to find new modes of joy online.
The five key trends playing out across The Liveable Web:
Primal Renaissance
After years of cultural sanitisation and emotional suppression, 2024 saw a return to rawness, gore, sleaze and hedonism – the social landscape is embracing messiness again.
Think Forward states that 59% of marketers took risks in the last year such as partnering with an unusual or divisive creator or making content that was anticipated to provoke backlash; 98% of these reported a successful or neutral outcome. In an example of leaning into indie sleaze and celebrating the messiness of rave culture, H&M collaborated on a collection with queen of the primal renaissance, Charlie XCX.
Charli XCX at her livestreamed listening party for the BRAT remix album
Low-stakes social
Online spaces have been reclaimed as a place for escape and release. A new, more relaxed internet is emerging, with an emphasis on levity and kindness of the internet’s perceived early ‘00s “peak.” Take the less-is-more approach on Marc Jacobs’ TikTok – the fashion lynchpin has ceded creative control, allowing creators and micro-influencers to pepper their feed with fun, small-scale content.
@marcjacobs We told @gabbriette ♬ original sound – marcjacobs
Intentional consumerism
Social status used to be linked to how much money someone could spend. Now, though, a new wave of social users who value sustainability over splashing the cash are offering up a counter-narrative. Brands recognise this, and 66% of marketers have increased ethical and/or sustainability messaging in their social content in 2024 vs last year. E.l.f. Cosmetics have eased off pressurising consumers to buy in favour of content, and instead refocused on the happiness their cosmetics offer, leaning into joy-giving behaviours and rituals associated with their products.
Modern mythmaking
Creator-led content now leads the way in responding to and shaping popular culture. The result is an Easter egg web in which audiences are digging deeper into entertainment. For their AW drop, clothing brand Peachy Den worked with influencer Olivia Neill and director Jake Erland to meticulously recreate a scene from the iconic film The Devil Wears Prada, with fans quick to decode the video’s references and praise its attention to detail.
@peachyden Peachy for Autumn? Ground breaking. Starring @olivia neill ♬ original sound – Peachy Den
New intimacies
People are participating in fandoms like never before, and research shows they’re doing so for the communal element of feeling part of something bigger than them. Marketers are responding by creating intimate experiences – 61% of global marketers use gate-keeping around their content, such as customer-only groups or closed social channels. REFY – creators of Vegan & Cruelty-Free Makeup – have stopped running influencer trips to promote their brand, offering community bonding trips for friends instead.
The survey also identified a learning gap for marketers when it comes to understanding internet culture; despite shitposting, sludge and slop content becoming increasingly prolific online in 2024, the majority of those questioned – 83% for sludge and slop and 67% for shitposting – have no idea what the terms mean.
‘Separating joy from progress and prioritising slower consumption’
“We know that a lot of people feel overwhelmed by their online experiences today; even spending time on social can be exhausting at times,” Mobbie Nazir, We Are Social’s global chief strategy officer said.
“That’s why it’s been so encouraging to see the emergence of ‘The Liveable Web’ as a theme this year – separating joy from progress and prioritising slower consumption. We also see more audiences actively seeking out more raw emotion and less sanitisation; this in itself is a creative gift to marketers everywhere – particularly those willing to take a few risks.”
Suzie Shaw, CEO of We Are Social Australia, said: “The social media landscape is at a pivotal moment, where people are increasingly seeking authenticity, levity, and genuine connection amid rising concerns about its impact. Our Think Forward 2025 report delves into these cultural shifts, from the raw energy of the Primal Renaissance to the emergence of low-stakes social spaces that embrace kindness and creativity.
“These trends reveal not just the challenges but the profound opportunities for brands to step up. By championing intentional consumerism, fostering meaningful communities, and embracing cultural nuances, brands can be part of creating a healthier, more human digital world—something Australians are clearly craving.”