Remember when Elon Musk explicitly told advertisers that he didn’t care if they left X?
Don’t worry if you’re struggling to recall the incident in late 2023. That was so many news cycles ago, and it seems rather quaint compared to recent social media headlines, like the ticking clock on Gen Z’s favorite platform.
The fact is the social media advertising environment is changing for brands, and these shifts aren’t always good—they often aren’t. Even so, social media is still a big part of many plans.
Social media can be volatile, by design
The power and allure of social media for both consumers and advertisers come from its cross-generational appeal, user-generated content, broad and niche communities, and real-time updates. As a result, trends come up quickly and cultures thrive. And with content creators growing ever savvier in how they develop, edit, and position their posts, engagement is almost irresistible for users.
Those strengths can also be weaknesses for brands, especially in the face of shrinking controls.
According to the “2024 Culture Trends Soundboard” study from SiriusXM Media, 64% of consumers said social media spreads misinformation. Advertisers should be concerned about the potential for floods of questionable and truly damaging content to flourish on these platforms.
As companies like Meta and platforms like X ease internal fact and quality checking in favor of unvetted community contributions, the long-standing brand safety issues posed by social media will only grow. And ads will increasingly and inevitably show up alongside content that may impact audience perceptions of the associated brands.
