2024 Social Media Predictions: AI Dominance, Threads Rise, TikTok’s Evolution and More

By Dave McDonald, Director of Social Media

That’s right, folks; believe it or not, another year has come and gone. As we reflect on everything that happened in 2023, it’s time to look ahead to 2024 and plan for how Father Time may ultimately affect our social media strategies. While I may not possess the power of divination to help me see into the future, here are my social media-educated predictions for what’s coming down the pike in 2024. Let’s get into it.

AI continues to rage on:

When ChatGPT went viral, what followed was a slew of predictions from industry experts about how artificial intelligence would change how we work. Many were excited about the changes, while others took a more cautious approach. In 2024, prepare for those predictions to come to fruition as big tech fully embraces AI and releases more features and platforms that utilize its power. Just recently, Meta has released (or will soon launch) a slew of new tools across its platforms, including new AI tools for Facebook group admins to help with moderation and a new generative AI text-to-image tool on Instagram stories. X (formally Twitter) has also dove head-first into the AI world, launching its Bard and ChatGPT competitor, Grok, which dubs itself as X’s “humble AI assistant that will help you navigate the mysteries of the universe” (yeah, sure, Jan). And let’s not forget the slew of other platforms like Sprinklr, Canva, Grammarly, and more that have also launched or are launching new AI features to help streamline workflow.

While these new tools will no doubt make your life easier in the future, it’s essential to approach them with caution. As more people begin to rely on AI to spit out content for them, sooner or later, our social content will start to feel like a bunch of chatbots talking to each other. Organizations should consider this now and implement guardrails on how to use these powerful tools to ensure their content remains unique, human, and engaging.

Psst…read up on how Boston University’s social team uses AI.

Meta’s Threads gets its moment to shine:

With X in its cringe era, many of its users are desperately searching for a suitable alternative. While Mastodon and Bluesky, once considered possible threats to X, have yet to hit the mark, Threads still has the potential to rise. The platform continues to add essential features to its mobile and web apps that help ease the workflow for users and further entice social media managers to incorporate Threads into their content strategies. Threads also just took the big step of launching in the EU, which will surely add to its already growing user base. Will the platform momentum continue in 2024 or fade with the rest? Only time will tell.

Meta closes the gap on TikTok:

While Meta may be a long way away from courting Gen. Z social media users away from TikTok, over the past few years, the company has done a solid job of keeping users on its platforms by increasing the presence of Reels and making it easier for users to build and post them. A recent report by Emplifi, a leading customer engagement platform, has found that Reels outperformed all other video content across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. The data in the study shows that Reels exhibit greater engagement and reach than TikTok videos. Interestingly enough, there has been a shift in user behavior toward Reels that are 90+ seconds long. In 2024, Meta will build upon this momentum and continue to push reels to users in new and creative ways.

Leading me to my next prediction…

TikTok enters its long-form era:

TikTok pushed the social media industry into the short-form video space. Now, there’s a push on the platform for longer-form content. Earlier this year, TikTok introduced the ability to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length (and is now testing a 15-minute upload option).

While short-form video is still TikTok’s bread and butter, in 2024, TikTok will have its eyes on competing with YouTube by enticing creators to come to TikTok with its new Creativity Program. TikTok will also aim to reduce the number of creators driving traffic away from its platform by uploading short-form previews of their long-form videos that live on YouTube.

YouTube Shorts creates the perfect content loop experience:

While Instagram Reels and TikTok have been in the limelight for the past few years, YouTube Shorts has been shouting from the corner, saying, “Hey, guys, I’m here too!” In 2024, all that could change. Last August, YouTube released new features for Shorts to help compete with its more seasoned short-form video competitors, like remixing videos, live videos, stickers, and more. However, in that announcement, they teased an upcoming feature allowing users to transform their long-form landscape videos into short-form 9x16 shorts, which could significantly increase the videos posted to Shorts.

My prediction for 2024 is that YouTube will build upon its feature for Shorts that allows users to instantly bounce between short and long-form videos, ultimately keeping users on the platform for extended periods, creating a seamless transition between short and long-form videos.

LinkedIn gets (even more) personal:

For years, I’ve been saying that LinkedIn is just Facebook with a suit on, and in 2024, that sentiment will become apparent to all. As almost any LinkedIn user can attest, the platform has gone from a place for networking and applying for jobs to a place for sharing personal experiences and how those experiences lead to leadership and personal growth. While many poke fun at the fact that this has led to a rise in “toxic positivity” on the platform (check out @BestofLinkedIn on Instagram for a good laugh), many social media professionals are finding that it’s opened the door to sharing new types of content that they may not have shared before. Now, it seems that content you would typically share on Facebook (human-interest stories, fun listicles, and recipes) performs just as well, if not better, on LinkedIn. Expect an increase in this type of content on the platform in 2024.

Zero-click content will reign supreme:

The age of driving web traffic from social is coming to an end. As social platforms adjust their algorithms to keep users on platform for longer, we see posts with links getting far less engagement than they used to. In the coming year, focusing on zero-click content (content that provides valuable information to users without leaving a platform) should be a priority when planning content. Making the content digestible, easy to read, and shareable is essential when considering the zero-click format. It’s also important to educate your marketing colleagues that there are more ways to measure the success of content other than just website views.

Will all of these predictions come true? The world may never know. However, the important thing is to be ready for anything because, as any seasoned social media marketer will tell you, everything can change in the blink of an eye.