10 social media trends that will be dead by next year

September 4, 2025
By
Lach Bradford

Because the internet moves faster than your content plan.

Trends burn bright, die young, and leave a cluttered archive of posts you’ll pretend never happened.

If you’ve built your 2025 strategy around any of these, it might be time to start digging the grave now.

1. The “Photo Dump”

Casual chaos is over.

What started as an anti-aesthetic rebellion has become just… an aesthetic. Everyone’s doing it, and it’s starting to look curated in the worst way — like you spent an hour making something look like you didn’t try.

2. BeReal (For Brands)

The novelty’s worn off.

It was fun when it felt real, but brands using BeReal as a PR stunt is the social media equivalent of your dad saying “fam” at the dinner table.

3. TikTok Voice Filters

We’ve reached saturation.

Every trending sound is now narrated by the same overly chipper AI voice, and people are hitting skip faster than you can say “text-to-speech.”

4. LinkedIn “Cry Selfies”

The “raw, vulnerable” post is now a cynical growth hack.

Audiences can smell when your tear ducts are working harder than your captions.

5. Instagram Close Friends Flexing

It’s not “exclusive” when 200 people are in your Close Friends list.

The green circle was a status symbol — now it’s a spam list for unpolished ads.

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6. AI Avatars

Nobody’s impressed anymore.

Your AI-generated headshot looks like it came out of a cyberpunk Sears Portrait Studio, and people have moved on.

7. Oversized Infographic Carousels

The “mega-slide” post that promised life-changing hacks has been replaced by punchier, single-frame insights.

If your carousel takes longer to read than a Netflix episode, you’ve lost them.

8. TikTok “Core” Aesthetics

Coastal grandma, tomato girl, goblincore… they were fun for a week, now they’re recycled at meme speed.

By the time you brand yourself as anythingcore, TikTok’s already moved on.

9. Threads “First Week Energy”

Remember when everyone was pretending to live on Threads 24/7? Yeah, that’s over.

It’s back to the same 30 people posting the same “let’s make Threads fun” posts.

10. Hashtag Stuffing

It’s 2025. The platforms know your content without 30 hashtags in the caption.

All you’re doing is making your post look like a desperate classified ad.

The takeaway: Trends are disposable, but your brand voice isn’t. If your strategy relies entirely on what’s hot right now, you’ll always be behind. Build something that lasts longer than an algorithm’s attention span.

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