Top 7 Social Media Updates of 2025 for Higher Ed

Updated on: 18/12/2025

2025 was a transformative year for social media, with a few changes big enough to make permanently alter the landscape.

While some platforms are being avoided, others are booming, and anything you see online now could be made with AI. A difficult economic climate on a global scale has also shifted expectations around what kind of content people want to see, as exhaustion of curated lifestyles grows alongside a preference for unpolished, relatable stories.

From people abandoning platforms to the proliferation of Gen AI content, we look at the biggest changes in social media in 2025 and what they might mean for higher education institutions.

The rise of Generative AI

While Gen AI use has been on the rise for a few years, 2025 introduced a new era of sophistication. Both individuals and brands played around with image and video-generation tools like Midjourney, Sora AI and the brand new Nano Banana Pro for their social media content.

However, despite Gen AI being popular with those using it to create visual content, it falls short when it comes to winning over audiences. The more AI-generated videos and images are used for content, it seems, the more negative audience sentiment towards Gen AI becomes. As we enter an era of realistic deepfakes where no one can tell what’s real, the fast rise of GenAI is one to be approached with caution and a metric ton of media literacy. Other aspects of concern over the use of AI-generated images and videos are the technology’s environmental impact, as well as the impact on creative industries and the lack of consent often involved in training Gen AI models.

The crux of the matter is – everyone wants to make Gen AI content, but no one really wants to consume it. Yes, it’s usually cheaper to use Gen AI than to make things the old-fashioned way, but your audience will know this, too.

What should higher education institutions do?

Don’t rely on generative AI for your social media visuals. We know it’s quick and cheap, but students know it’s quick and cheap, too. They’re likely to react negatively and might even criticise you for not hiring a creative professional instead.

Short-form video continues to dominate

This year further cemented the absolute dominance of short-form video content. Every platform, it seems, now wants to be TikTok, with Instagram confirming that their algorithm prioritises Reels, YouTube focusing on Shorts, and even LinkedIn videos getting 5x more engagement than other types of posts on the platform.

Even established full-time creators are now shifting to short-form content, and for good reason. Not only do algorithms prioritise the distribution of short-form video, but platforms require consistent upload schedules of multiple posts a week to prevent your account being downgraded in the eyes of the robots – and it’s tough to keep up with that kind of schedule if you’re producing hour-long content pieces.

What should higher ed institutions do?

Remove barriers preventing marketing and social teams from posting video content often. Establish a set of rules early on, so teams feel empowered to produce content and post it quickly without going through many rounds of approvals.

Authentic beats aspirational on social media

Let’s face it – most people, especially the younger generations, are struggling financially. There is growing dislike and distrust towards any kind of corporate entity on social media, and this is especially true for content that could be seen as an advertisement.

Young people are tired of being sold to, especially so on platforms where they go to for entertainment, education, or connection. Long gone are the days of glossy high-production videos doing big numbers on social media; they’ve been replaced by people in casual clothes filming with their phone’s front camera, in their car, on the way to the gym.

For corporate entities of any kind, from small businesses to large corporations, this can mean a complete pivot of how a social media team operates. Having one relatable, funny and honest spokesperson filming with last year’s iPhone is worth much more than a carefully constructed studio shoot. Bonus points if you’re willing to make fun of yourself and go overboard with chaotic editing.

What should higher ed institutions do?

Utilise UGC (user generated content), leverage social media content being posted by students or even work with students on your social media strategy. Focus on real stories and things potential students really care about. This means highlighting the perks of life on campus, university personalities, students forming connections and extracurricular opportunities, over institutional prestige and glossy campus tours.

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The big X-odus

Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now renamed X, users have left the platform in droves, mostly due to changes made to how the platform operates.

One of the biggest changes made to X was the introduction of a paid verification system (usually reserved for high-profile individuals or companies, to prevent fraud or identity theft) that made the algorithm prioritise paying users. Musk has also been open about softening content moderation on X, particularly around what can be perceived as hate speech, which has further driven more users to other platforms. There has been a massive rise in bots and fake accounts being created on X, too, making comment and message spam unbearable for many.

Because of the many changes driving a massive decline in users, as well as a rise in general negativity of content on the platform, many brands and companies have left the platform altogether in response. X is just not a nice place to be right now, and for many, it’s just not worth the hassle.

What should higher ed institutions do?

The boom of alternative social media platforms

A big hallmark of 2025 is that young people are fed up of big corporations. With a growing disdain for the 1%, more are finding ways to avoid giving tech billionaires their money and personal data, and that includes creating and migrating to alternate social media platforms.

Many are looking to smaller platforms that promise less hate and more meaningful connection, such as BlueSky. Photographers and illustrators, displeased with Instagram’s move to prioritise video, are migrating to alternatives like Cara, VSCO and even moving back to Tumblr. 

But even the big corporations themselves are trying to enter each other’s playing fields: Meta, for example, launched threads to compete with X, and ByteDance (owners of TikTok) have launched sister app Lemon8, a blend of Instagram and Pinterest. It’s too soon to tell if any of these newer platforms will last, but the fact that these platforms were even created are a clear sign that users are tired of how legacy social media works.

Young people are also migrating, surprisingly, to LinkedIn, perhaps in an effort to stay ahead in a tricky economic climate. From marketing themselves to peers on TikTok, to marketing themselves to employers, a whopping 7% of LinkedIn users fit into the 18-24 age range.

What should higher ed institutions do?

It’s always worth blocking out a handle and setting up a simple bio with a link to your website on newer platforms, as well as and keeping an eye out for other services that students might be migrating to. That way you can ensure that, no matter what platform they’re on, students can find you.

Social media as the new search engine

Move over, Google: TikTok and Instagram are the new search engines.

Many Gen Zers go to social media first to look for anything from product reviews to travel recommendations. If you have a product to sell and there’s no social media content being made about you, you’re already behind.

People are looking for genuine, authentic content made by real people to help them make all sorts of decisions, from small purchases to big life choices, as well as tutorials and DIY guides, recipes, and more. It helps that platforms make it easier for anyone to optimise their content, with SEO capabilities being built into almost everything – yes, even text that’s baked into the video, or spoken words.

What should higher ed institutions do?

If you’re posting on social media, don’t do it half-heartedly. Make sure every piece of content, no matter how short, is fully optimised in the same way that you would optimise your website for SEO. That means ensuring your title, description, spoken audio and on-screen captions contain the words you want students to find you through.

The death of the hashtag

This one has been a long time coming, but hashtags, as we know it, are over. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri even confirmed it himself! But while hashtags no longer help with reaching new people or increasing discoverability, they do still have a specific use: tracking.

Is your brand running a campaign that invites people to generate content? Did you attend a particular event? Are you joining a larger conversation on a specific topic? Are you watching an important sports match and want to join in the commentary? While hashtags won’t push you to the top of someone’s feed, they can help place your post in the right place, at the right time.

But with platforms implementing hashtag limits, it’s important to be intentional, and to make sure your hashtag is exactly what someone might be looking for.

What should higher ed institutions do?

Don’t waste time cramming #highereducation #studyabroad into your posts. But do use hashtags to jump on or create events, trends and movements. This is especially important if you’re working with students for UGC on your socials.