New year, new social media landscape

Media

January 10, 2025

As we leave 2024 behind, with its tumultuous media landscape (among other things), we enter this New Year with hope and anticipation. Given the current political climate and the fragmentation of media types, we are focusing on social media and the highly charged environment it fosters. To keep our clients updated on relevant media topics, Inizio Evoke Media is providing an update on the latest developments with X (formerly Twitter) and other emerging players in the social media landscape that we will monitor as 2025 unfolds.

Developments at X

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X, platform usage in the U.S. has declined by 23%. Both advertisers and users have left due to content moderation issues and concerns about brand safety following the leadership changes. Notably, X reportedly saw a record number of account deactivations in a single day (110K), the day after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Many believe this was tied to Musk’s association with President-elect Donald Trump and Trump’s plans to seek Musk’s counsel during his administration. This exodus underscores the increasing trend of users aligning their social media activity with political beliefs.

Major pharmaceutical brands like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and AbbVie post organically on X semi-regularly. The most common content highlights product news, upcoming events, and webinars. By late 2023, many brands had significantly reduced or halted ad spending. X removed ad transparency in the U.S. a few years ago, making it unclear how many pharmaceutical brands are still advertising. However, as of December 2024, it is known that brands such as Novo Nordisk, Gilead, and Merck have completely stopped paid ads on X, while Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and AbbVie have reduced their advertising spending.

Additionally, Inizio Evoke Media has stopped all paid media placements on X for its clients since Musk took ownership in 2022, and we will continue this policy until X provides a satisfactory level of brand safety and context transparency. The overall sentiment toward X in the advertising community is overwhelmingly negative, with many agencies and consultants advising clients to pull their advertising dollars from X. Primary concerns include brand safety and the risk of more significant PR issues. While X has faced instability, competitors like Threads and Bluesky have quickly attracted these users, capitalizing on the fast-paced, event-driven social media platform format.

Threads Introduction

Threads, owned by Meta, launched in 2023 and experienced explosive initial growth. By linking to existing Instagram accounts, Meta made it easy for users to create accounts on the platform. However, the in-platform experience initially did not meet expectations, primarily due to a slow learning algorithm and limited posting capabilities, leading to a rapid decline in usage. Threads has been continuously adjusting features to attract users back, reaching 200 million monthly active users by August 2024. Currently, we observe differences in the usage of Threads compared to X. Among brands with accounts on both X and Threads, content is posted more frequently on X than on Threads. The content that does reach both platforms is identical, but brands are more selective about which pieces of X content get shared to Threads. A few major pharmaceutical brands, such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have created accounts on Threads. However, they remain inactive to date, with both companies continuing to post to X.

With steady usage in place, Threads is considering building revenue via paid advertising. As Threads falls under the Meta umbrella, the advertising tools will likely live within the Meta Business Suite, allowing seamless integration with other Meta activations. Additionally, Meta is continually updating their brand safety capabilities, so it makes sense that Threads will be included in these efforts.

From a pharmaceutical standpoint, restrictions will likely mirror those already in place on Meta. For example, ad copy will be required to focus on awareness rather than promotion, and prescription drug campaigns will be eligible only in select countries.

While Threads has not officially confirmed its timing, rumors suggest that advertising pilot programs will begin in 2025, starting with only a few advertisers. It will likely take several months of testing before Threads opens opportunities to all advertisers. Additionally, it will require time to demonstrate inventory quality and develop brand safety capabilities specific to this platform.

Welcome Bluesky

Bluesky, initially an internal project at Twitter, launched independently in 2021. However, it was an invitation-only platform until early 2024. The user interface is very similar to X, but it promises a user-controlled experience where individuals can create their own custom algorithm. This differs from other social platforms that use a ‘master algorithm.’ Bluesky’s usage increased by 500% following the 2024 election, reaching 24 million monthly active users.

Only a few major pharmaceutical brands, such as AstraZeneca and Novartis, have accounts on Bluesky; however, they have not posted any content yet. Both continue to share content on X. Bluesky has announced that there are currently no plans to introduce advertising on the platform, they are generating revenue by implementing a subscription model for users to access in-platform add-ons. The future of advertising on Bluesky remains uncertain, as they could transition to a paid advertising model or a full subscription service.

Meta/AI Update

Last month, amid the flurry of holiday-related industry news, Meta announced plans to create AI-generated characters and profiles to increase engagement with its younger users. This quietly rolled out in the US in July 2024, with hundreds of thousands of characters already created using its AI character tool. However, most users have kept them private, so far. “We expect these AIs to, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do,” said Connor Hayes, vice president of product for generative AI at Meta. “They’ll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform . . . that’s where we see all of this going,” Most creators are currently using Meta’s AI tools to improve the appearance of their real-world content, such as editing photos.

The push comes as social media companies have been racing to integrate the latest generative AI technology into their products to attract new users and more content platforms. This raises an essential question about advertising: how will Meta ensure that ad buyers aren’t buying impressions against AI profiles and are only reaching real humans?

It also raises the question of whether these platforms are now in the content creation business or are platforms for people to connect. For years, Meta (and many other platforms) have avoided regulation by the federal government through Section 230 of the Telecommunications Code. They’ve argued that they create no content and only give people a platform to create and share. AI characters and profiles will sway the discussion, as bots will drive the content and engagement algorithm more than real people.

Inizio Evoke Media's Perspective

As an agency, Inizio Evoke Media continues to avoid X as a paid platform due to longstanding brand safety concerns. That said, we continue to monitor and stay informed about platforms that compete with X and will keep our clients up to date, as there is a substantial benefit to reaching users in a real-time, current-event-style social media environment.

Furthermore, Inizio Evoke Media will continue to monitor advertising opportunities as they arise on these platforms. In the context of the emerging use of AI profiles and characters across its platform, we haven't seen any loss in targeting fidelity to date; however, we will remain vigilant regarding audience quality to ensure our clients receive value for their investment investments.

As with all media campaigns, any recommendations to test or otherwise across any platform would depend on the platform’s ability to provide inventory, audience quality, and brand safety capabilities. Our top priority is ensuring our clients run their advertising within the highest-quality inventory, maximizing impact and driving action among key audiences.

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