Top 5 Social Media Trends of 2025
Social media feeds usually feel like a time warp on our brain. That trend that you thought was ‘so last year?’ Yeah, that just happened this Spring!
In a world that’s designed intentionally to keep our brains moving at a rapid fire pace, it can be hard to stay focused on what’s hot today, and what will still be hot tomorrow. If you’re 17 and trying desperately to go viral, you’re probably worried about trying to jump on the hottest new trends the minute they launch.
Don’t be.
You’re not a 17 year old on TikTok, and while it’s okay to jump on a great trend, you don’t need to chase after those fleeting moments of fame! Good trends, the trends that actually matter, don’t disappear overnight. They usually create the best practices that stick around for a very long time.
So what were the top 5 trends of 2025, and which ones may stick around for a while? Here’s a few thoughts from Caitlin and the team:
Trend 1: AI Graphics
AI has been a hot trend for some time now, but people are finally seeing the holes in AI-generated copy. Aside from the overuse of the em dash and rocket ship emojis, AI copy usually reads hollow, and is impersonal. It doesn’t actually speak to an audience, which is a risky move when it’s supposed to be you speaking.
What we ARE seeing more of, though, is AI-generated graphics. Some are cartoonish, but others are meant to look so close to real life it’s hard to tell the difference. There are still ‘humans’ with lobster claws and randomly missing limbs because of AI mixups, but those are less common.
Is it working? Yes and no. For some accounts it’s managed to save time - taking what would be an hour to edit on a tool like Canva, and boiling it down to just a few minutes. In some cases it can be difficult to tell that an image was generated with AI. But be careful! These images are still imperfect, and any mistakes will quickly make you look inauthentic.
Trend 2: Carousels
Once upon a time Instagram was all about reels! You needed to be making so many reels a week, they needed to be a certain length, with a certain hook, and a certain call to action to get any attention. Now it’s all about carousels.
Carousels, those multi-part static images that you swipe to scroll through, are getting great traction today! If you deliver the information in a quick and easy way that people can understand while swiping quickly, they’re going to be more engaged. If your carousel is well-done, and the hook leads into a great story, there’s a much higher chance your audience will swipe through.
Is it working? Yes, and it’s a great format, so don’t expect it to go away anytime soon.
Trend 3: Trending Trends
Remember the Barbie trend? Yeah, we jumped on board too. There are others that are the flavour of the week for sure - the fake apology letter, the meme based on the latest Netflix hit series…even the use of trending audio in places where it doesn’t belong. Businesses that never cared about social media trends before are now wanting to jump on a bandwagon because they think it will build a following.
Is it working? It all depends on whether or not it fits your brand! Authenticity is the name of the game, so if there’s a trend that aligns to your business then it may be the perfect time to jump on board. Otherwise if done badly you run the risk of looking foolish, and actually out-of-touch (like your grandparents misusing slang while trying to text). Check with a professional (or your teenager…) first!
Trend 4: LinkedIn Text Only
We talked earlier about AI images, but what about LinkedIn where you don’t need to use an image at all? In the last quarter of 2025, we have been seeing a trend where LinkedIn posts without an image are performing well, and often better than posts where people are scrambling to find an image and come up with something barely related to their content.
Remember that LinkedIn is often a forum for thought leadership, and longer pieces of content that wouldn’t always translate to a visual medium like Instagram. There are exceptions to every rule - not every Instagram caption needs to be short, and not every LinkedIn post needs to be long! However, the general theme is that the two are different, and sometimes LinkedIn without an image will get you the traction you’re looking for.
Is it working? At the moment, yes it is. Remember that algorithms change frequently to stop any content creators from gaming the system, so what’s trending today may fall flat in 6 months, but this definitely has potential.
Trend 5: Authenticity
Remember when Instagram grids were so perfectly curated, they looked like they stepped out of a magazine? Every square needed to be perfectly coded to the ones around it. You could have done a screen capture and sold it as an art piece! That wasn’t an achievable standard even for a lot of content creators, and thankfully we’ve moved into the real world.
Real life is messy and imperfect, and your social media can and should reflect that. That doesn’t mean that you should be constantly posting photos and videos of you first thing in the morning surrounded by a messy house and screaming children (although those can be okay too!). It means that audiences are craving authenticity - they want to get to know the real you, through your written content, your photos, your videos - all of it.
Is it working? A resounding YES. Authenticity will always win the day. You can hire a professional for support and we’re always glad to help, but the goal is never to make you look or sound robotic. We’re here to help you save time while still being the human that people want to connect with and hire.
Not sure which trends to jump on, or skip? That’s exactly what we help with.
Reach out to the OMG team and let’s map out a social strategy that works for you.