Social has evolved from scale to niche. Everyone joined Facebook because their friends were on it. Now, everyone wants to meet their next group of friends. Yes, you might meet them on Facebook. But more likely, you'll meet them in a "niche" community.

The consumer is adopting to traditional advertising. Paid media doesn't work as well as used to. You need to be authentic when you are trying to reach consumers. And that is why influencer partnerships are so popular

It was 2006. My favorite basketball player was Stephon Marbury (don't judge me). He just announced his new basketball shoe, The Starbury. I couldn't tell you anything about the shoe except that Stephon Marbury made it. That was the point. I wasn't buying the shoe, I was buying Stephon Marbury.

What's interesting is cultural trends on TikTok usually start with unknown creators. TikTok's algorithm doesn't favor those with large follower counts. The company explains in a blog post:

Why do you use Twitter?

TikTok is like a parasite for most content creators. Its algorithm makes TikTok money at the expense of creators.

In over four months, Toby Howell more than doubled Morning Brew’s Twitter followers.

It’s the platforms that don’t only offer online shopping, but social online shopping that’ll find success in the long run.

Facebook is for Boomers, Instagram is for Millennials, and TikTok is for Gen-Z.