ICYMI: We're in our "Slow Social" era
How social teams can navigate digital exhaustion
Notes: It’s almost American Thanksgiving 🍁 so there won’t be a newsletter next Friday but I will send the monthly recap for paid subscribers. Plus, there will be a special newsletter about nonprofit social coming out on Monday, Dec. 1st!
On Dec. 2nd I’ll be celebrating ICYMI’s fifth anniversary by catching up with Rare Beauty’s Substack editor MacKenzie Kassab.
Then on December 11th, I’ll moderate a panel with Sprout Social, Coco Mocoe and IKEA — come watch me fan girl over the history of IKEA’s meatball campaign.
As for this week, we’re hating on gift guides for some reason, someone’s always complaining and this time it’s about the quarter-zip trend, and Keith Lee teamed up with Amex to promote Small Business Saturday.
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
TikTok will let you control how much AI content you see in the FYP
TikTok announced Bulletin Boards — its version of Broadcast Channels
YouTube is testing DMs, which they say has been a top feature request
YouTube hosted a creator-led, film-festival-style showcase for “key decision makers”
Instagram now allows for 20 minute Reels
Threads is working overtime to be a destination for podcast creators and communities
A former Twitter employee is relaunching Vine as Divine
IAB Report: U.S. creator ad spend is growing 400% faster than the rest of digital media
Welcome to the era of Slow Social; we’re logging on more intentionally
💻 ROADMAP
📲 YouTube Updates
YouTube is testing DMs among adults 18 years or older in Ireland and Poland, saying this has been a top feature request. Conversation and connection would happen around shared YouTube clips.
YouTube hosted its first-ever ‘Creator Premieres’ — a film-festival-style showcase last week for an audience of “key decision makers” from major brands and agencies like Verizon, LVMH, WPP, Omnicom Group, Dentsu and more. The event featured sneak peeks and programming announcements from creators, including Cleo Abram, Ms. Rachel, Mark Vins, and Trevor Noah — each unveiling new episodes, series, documentaries, specials or even a late-night show. Recess Therapy’s Julian Shapiro-Barnum will host Outside Tonight, a weekly late-night series taped in New York.
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok is testing a content control feature that allows you to choose how much AI content you see in your FYP.
TikTok officially announced Bulletin Boards — a Broadcast Channel dupe. It’s available to creators who are at least 18 years old and have 50,000 followers.
TikTok announced a new Time and Well-being space to build mindful digital habits, which include an affirmational journal, a soothing sound generator, and badges for missions accomplished.
TikTok partnered with iHeart Radio to launch a creator podcast network, which will feature up to 25 new podcasts hosted by TikTok creators, as well as a national broadcast and digital radio station, and live events.
A new TikTok and Amazon partnership means Amazon Music customers can share songs, albums, playlists, and personal listening highlights from their Insights on Amazon Music directly to TikTok.
📲 Meta Updates
Instagram now allows for Reels up to 20 minutes long.
Threads said it’s giving podcast links in the feed a more pronounced look, with colorful backgrounds and image thumbnails, making them easier to spot. And creators will be able to add a link to their podcast in their profile. It’s part of an effort to become THE place for discussions around podcast shows.
Facebook is rolling out “Content Protection,” a new mobile tool for eligible creators that flags duplicate Reels and helps them take action if their work is used without permission.
Facebook Marketplace announced it was getting a “glow up.” Among the new features they’re launching: Collections, which lets you create groups of Marketplace listings and invite friends to join; partner listings with eBay and Poshmark inventory; and Reactions and Comments on Marketplace listings.
Meta is rolling out updates to its computer vision model that can identify, outline, and follow objects across both images and video. That means new Edits effects creators can use on specific people or objects in their videos.
Australian Instagram users between 13 and 15 years old are being notified that their accounts would start being deactivated from 4 December.
📲 Snapchat Updates
Snapchat announced Topic Chats, public conversations around everything from F1 to Below Deck — coming soon in Canada, New Zealand, and the US. Topic Chats will cluster Snaps about a topic and will let you see if your friends are in the Topic Chats exploring common interests.
Snapchat announced the app is now available on Amazon Fire tablets.
🐌 THE SLOW SOCIAL ERA
We’re in our slow social era. It’s a broad idea capturing our collective fatigue — the doomscrolling, the avalanche of AI slop, the realization that trend-jacking doesn’t hit the same when every brand is posting the same orange-glitter moment.
I wrote about Gen Z’s desire for a digital detox back in June — at the time searches for the term were spiking as people were expressing digital fatigue — but, as Vogue noted in this new article about the luxury of unplugging, the past six months have marked a tipping point.
You can see it in a string of think pieces published this week:
Rachel Karten reflected on how we adapt to a post-social world now that the FYP has eaten the follower
Jim Louderback called it the Slow Media era, shifting towards substance over stimulation
Jack Appleby wrote that social shouldn’t move fast, saying you’ll catch up by slowing down
And you can see it in cultural trends, like the New Yorker article circulating that says it’s cool to have no followers now; the popularity of Brick, a device which blocks addictive apps on your phone to help you focus, and the rise of IRL events, especially those where devices are banned — everywhere from the Met Gala to TikTok creator CatGPT’s no-phone party.
But… you’re the social team, which means going offline isn’t an option.
This is a theme I’ll keep digging into — it’s not a one-post problem — but across all these conversations, the message is clear: depth over breadth in 2026.
Post less, but make the posts count.
Experiment with long-form content that holds people’s attention.
Create spaces — especially offline spaces — to connect with the people who love your brand.
Embrace printed materials, tactile retail experiences, and ritual-based packaging as an antidote to digital burnout.
We’re not logging off completely — we’re just showing up more intentionally.
And the final, pragmatic word on this goes to senior social manager Carmen Vicente, who posted about it perfectly: tech is smart and will adapt. People might spend more time on analog activities in 2026, but platforms will shift to support those hobbies in any way they can.
In 2026, we may be doing more painting, knitting, journaling, and dinner parties, said Carmen. “But my guess is we’ll be planning and mapping and documenting it online.”
🧮 DATA DROPS
Waiting in line for designer sample sales and pop-up shops has become a status symbol for young consumers, according to Vogue Business’ follow up piece: Gen Z Broke the Marketing Funnel, Part II — What Now? Seventy per cent of Gen Zs say they’re very or somewhat interested in attending in‑person brand events or activations, according to the research from youth culture agency Archrival. And of the Gen Zs who have attended an in‑person brand event or activation, nearly three‑quarters (72 per cent) report that the experience made them view the brand more positively.
Brand partnerships are the main revenue driver for creators with 94% of creators surveyed saying they post on behalf of brand partnerships at least once a month. This disproportionate reliance on brand deals can make revenue hard to predict which is why creators are trying to diversify their revenue streams, according to Visa’s Monetized: 2025 Creator Report.
U.S. creator ad spend is projected to reach $37b in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 26%YoY. That’s 400% faster than the rest of digital media is growing, according to the IAB’s 2025 Creator Economy Ad Spend & Strategy Report. Creator reputation and audience alignment are the most important criteria brands use when selecting creators and finding the right creator to partner with is the top challenge listed.
👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
Which online platforms do Americans most commonly use? - Pew Research Center
A former Twitter employee is relaunching Vine as Divine, including more than 100,000 archived Vine videos, restored from an older backup that was created before Vine’s shutdown - Tech Crunch
Does Kylie Jenner’s return to Snapchat signal a comeback — not just for her beauty brand, but for Snap Inc itself? - Vogue
Meta won’t have to break up with Instagram and WhatsApp after winning an antitrust suit - The Guardian
Fan edits, the distinct social media content format is peak fan expression, and it also helps entertainment brands like Lionsgate drive awareness about its properties - Marketing Brew
Cava, Starbucks and Figs are just some of the brands producing merch to reach Gen Z and millennial audiences who leverage exclusive brand accessories as a status symbol - AdAge
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As always, so interesting to read your recaps. I didn’t realize I am not the only one over gift guides. I really cannot subscribe to all this consumerism now with the cost of everything being so high, thinking about how much waste there is in the world and really what my financial priorities are for the people who I would actually buy gifts for. What matters is not a new blanket (with a once in a lifetime discount and new colors) but time and IRL connection.
As a book publicist/marketer, I am okay going back to basics. I don't know how publishers will handle this, though. They've invested so heavily in BookTok that they'll need to marry that with IRL promo.