Brand Social Trend Report: Q1 2026

Delayed virality, create mode, TikTok slow down, "drop everything" campaigns, and more.

If this is your first time receiving one of these reports, welcome! Like I always preface, this isn’t your usual graphs and stats trend report. Think of this like the scribbled notepad version of the trends you’ll eventually end up seeing in six months. It’s like getting early access. A little bit of science and a whole lot of gut.

The Brand Social Trend Report: Q1 2026 covers topics like:

• Delayed virality

• TikTok’s slow down

• Accounts going create mode

• “Drop everything” campaigns

• Human interest = brand interest

• A refocus on resonance

There are also trend contributions from people working at places like New York Magazine, Amtrak, BÉIS, Jeopardy, and more.

Thank you to paid subscribers for supporting the newsletter and making reports like this possible! If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your free subscription, this is a good one to do it for. Plus, you’ll get access to the Link in Bio Discord, which has been described as “an essential place to be for anyone managing social media.”