How brands can put the 'social' back into social media

A new white paper by GrowthOps, "Putting the social back into social media", warned that social platforms have drifted from their original purpose of fostering genuine connection, becoming dominated by algorithms, artificial content, and commercial priorities. For marketers, the findings underscore the urgent need to rethink how brands engage audiences online.

The study highlighted a measurable decline in personal sharing. Time spent viewing friends’ posts fell from 22% to 17% on Facebook, and from 11% to 7% on Instagram, between 2023 and 2024. Original personal sharing on Facebook has been steadily declining since a 21% drop in 2015, indicating a shift toward performative posting over authentic interaction.

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The study identified three key trends behind this transformation:

Decline in authenticity
Nearly a quarter of social media users now consider themselves influencers or content creators, treating profiles as personal broadcast channels rather than spaces among friends. Trust is eroding, with 82% of consumers in Australia and New Zealand reporting they don’t trust social media content, including influencer posts. Globally, around 80% of consumers trust user-generated content more than branded or influencer content, highlighting the opportunity for marketers to leverage authenticity over sponsorships.

Rise of artificial sociality
Artificial content is on the rise, with bots, automated accounts, and AI-generated posts blurring the line between real and simulated engagement. Facebook removed 1.3 billion fake accounts in one quarter alone, and estimates suggest 4–5% of its active users are not human. The report also flags the proliferation of “AI slop” (the low-effort machine-generated text, images, and videos) designed to capture attention and ad revenue, rather than foster genuine interaction.

The death of third spaces
Traditional social “third spaces,” such as cafes or clubs, are declining, pushing people toward smaller, niche digital communities on platforms like Reddit and Discord. For some users, AI companionship fills the social gap. 33% of U.S. Gen Z now turn to AI for social interaction. Snapchat’s My AI chatbot reached 150 million users and facilitated over 10 billion messages in under four months.

While Western countries are pushing for social media regulation and seeing a shift toward smaller, niche communities, there are different trends in East and South Asia. In East Asia, a significant portion of the younger population is more readily adopting and engaging with AI companions. And in South Asia, there is a focus on entertainment and content consumption, particularly with the growth of short-form video content. This points to the report's findings that the decline in social media's "social" aspect is not uniform and varies by region.

For marketers, these trends present both challenges and opportunities. Declining organic reach, lower returns on influencer spending, and rising ad costs mean brands must pivot from chasing virality to building trust. The study recommended five strategies:

• Entertain, don’t just explain: Create episodic, character-driven, bingeable content that holds attention.
• Host in-real-life events: Blend digital communities with offline activations for authentic interaction.
• Engage employees as creators: Leverage employees to produce relatable, trustworthy content.
• Build for emotion, fluency, and time: Give campaigns the runway to develop recognition and emotional impact.
• Pair creative with strategic generative engine optimisation (GEO): Adapt content for AI search engines and new digital discovery tools.

Chris Greenough, general manager for Malaysia, and regional head of creative services at GrowthOps, paints a stark picture of social media’s current landscape. “Social media promised connection, but delivered distance,” he said, noting that time spent viewing friends’ posts has dropped sharply on Facebook from 22% to 17% and on Instagram from 11% to 7% in just a year. “We’re surrounded by content, but not community,” Greenough added, highlighting the widening gap between digital engagement and genuine human connection.

The rise of artificial content only compounds the problem. “The internet feels less human because, in many ways, it is,” he explained. With platforms like Facebook removing 1.3 billion fake accounts in a single quarter, and more of what users scroll through being AI-generated, Greenough warned that brands risk becoming “just more noise in an artificial feed” if they don’t put people first.

For marketers, the solution lies in a return to authenticity and emotional storytelling. “Chasing ‘more for less’ is a race to the bottom,” he said. Campaigns that are built on emotion, brand fluency, and given time to resonate are 7.5 times more effective at driving profit. Greenough added

The path forward is clear: rebuild trust through genuine relationships, smaller communities, and authentic engagement. Brands that do this will win the next era.

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