2026 Social Media Trend Reports Converge on One Theme: Authenticity Over Polish

A 2026 social media trend roundup published by Adwhite, drawing on research from Sprout Social and Hootsuite alongside interviews with brand marketing executives, reports that nearly one in three consumers now start their search for information or product recommendations on social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube rather than Google, according to Sprout Social’s Q2 data cited in the piece.

The report also cites Liquid Death SVP of Marketing Dan Murphy predicting more “AI slop” will flood social feeds in 2026, which he frames as an opportunity for brands willing to show up as genuinely themselves rather than relying on generic AI-generated content.

Separately, Taco Bell's head of social and PR, Nicole Weltman, is quoted in the report predicting that the widely-imitated “unhinged social media manager” brand-voice trend will fade as audiences tire of the format, opening space for brands with more distinct, consistent voices.

The report frames video as still dominant but evolving, noting that platforms have expanded video length options in response to audience appetite for longer-form content beyond short clips, a shift American Eagle's CMO linked to younger audiences' “craving [for] deeper understanding, deeper connection” in brand storytelling.

Related: Why Fidget Spinners Died So Fast (And What It Teaches Us)