Three Social Trends & Takeaways That Can Shape Your Social Approach in 2026

One month into 2026, the year is already shaping up to shift how and when brands show up on social media to appeal to and engage with audiences. 

Gone are the days when a simple, regular posting cadence could draw in fans and spark renewed interest in a brand.

Today’s social approach demands more.

Brands that are willing to go the extra mile and truly lean into emerging trends will have the best chance of connecting with audiences—staying not just top of mind, but actively engaged—especially at a time when passive social media consumption has become the norm for many consumers.

Below are three social trends and takeaways to consider as you plan out content for this year:

Lean into Comfort and Nostalgia to Drive Future Intent: If you look at any 2026 social trend reports, you’ll see some iteration of nostalgia becoming a renewed focus for social brands and platforms.

Pinterest highlighted this as “the throwback kid” in its Pinterest Predicts report at the end of 2025, noting that brands can approach childhood favorites with a twist on upcycled and vintage-inspired themes.

“2026 is the new 2016” was the first major social trend on Instagram earlier in January, with several brands and creators, including Alaska Airlines, GaryVee, Instagram, and our own Moon Valley Nurseries, sharing what their social presence looked like 10 years ago.

Another recent trend on social is legacy brands reframing their own IP to showcase their ability to connect with new and old fans, like the Disney+ social team, which got legal clearance to cut the entire High School Musical film into a 52-part video series on TikTok, drawing nearly 57 million views in two weeks to celebrate its 20th anniversary and encourage viewers to watch the entire movie series by signing up for the streamer. 

Takeaway: Lean into what makes your brand a longstanding version of itself. Audit your brand’s story by digging into the why of your brand: the story of how it came to be, the people behind it, or how it can live within your audience’s experiences for years to come. 

Remember, Your Audience is Human: AI and its capabilities dominated social media discussions in 2025, with brands weighing the pros and cons. While emerging tech can be exciting for industries, a new standard emerged toward the end of the year: brands taking a stand on whether they were comfortable incorporating AI within their content.

Brands like Sweetgreen are making it a normal occurrence to show the behind-the-scenes of content shoots as proof of concept and action. 

Aerie made a promise on Instagram to stay “100% real” to its customers in one of its top-liked posts after a competitor was revealed to have used AI-generated models in a campaign. 

And brands like Polaroid have supported new product launches, like the Polaroid Flip, with social campaigns that emphasize “instant photography over instant gratification,” including its Unplugged photo series that introduces community-based walking groups across the country that encourage connection and unplugging from the digital world, even if just for an afternoon.

Takeaway: Authentic isn’t just a buzzword when it has something to stand on. In a world where everything can be questioned, especially on social media, showing the behind-the-scenes process and the people involved can be an advantage that builds trust among viewers. 

AI isn’t a dirty word or use case, but people want to understand how it’s being used in the content they support. 

Treat Social as a Spectator Sport: Maybe it’s because the Olympics are top of mind as we near the Opening Ceremony, but there’s something to be said for watching content that makes you feel like a fly on the wall. That’s a new approach to social that creators and brands are looking towards to change up the feed. 

There’s no overly scripted explanation or direct-to-camera talking to the audience. Instead, creators are taking the audience with them.

It’s something we’ve seen in iterations from creators and brands before, like Sofie Pavitt Face, an acne care beauty brand, and Benz & Bowties, a sales manager at a Ohio Mercedes-Benz dealership, who take audiences with them on client (showing product use cases) and employee-driven conversations, helping educate without it feeling overly sales-heavy. 

Recently, Modern Animal has shown what that could look like from the service perspective, shifting how some businesses share their client experience by letting the audience actually be in the room and around the office with them for each new episode: getting to know the clinic, the staff, and the adorable guest appearances of cats and dogs. This helps build trust in the clinic’s staff and expertise, as well as buy-in for the brand and its services. 

Takeaway: Posted content doesn’t have to be “perfect” to be posted. However, posting should always be done with intention. 

Every post can be improved with a few more hours dedicated to it, but what audiences want to see are the real moments and use cases of a product, presented in an engaging, ownable way that takes them through the why and how, not just the what.