The only problem, at this stage at least, is that most of Meta’s AI tools serve no purpose in social apps, which are built around real, human connection.

Social media is, by design, social, which generally involves interaction between humans. But apparently, Meta’s looking to change the paradigm on this, and encourage the use of AI bots to engage within its apps.

Indeed, Meta’s already looking to help creators make AI versions of themselves, while as noted, it’s also prompting users to generate random AI images that they can share with their friends.

These aren’t real, human experiences that Meta wants you to share, but computer-generated slop. Which are already causing problems across Meta’s networks more broadly, as AI-generated images, presented as real depictions, continue to generate huge engagement among seemingly unaware users.

It’s deceptive, it’s spammy. And yet, Meta, seemingly, wants more of it.

In a recent interview, Zuckerberg said that he expects more and more Facebook and IG content to be increasingly AI-generated, while again, Meta itself is encouraging this, by pushing users to incorporate AI into their posts and attachments.

Meta also recently hired Michael Sayman, the developer of a social app populated entirely by AI bots, which is another indicator that this is likely the direction that Meta’s leaning.

As such, you can expect more gen AI prompts to clog your Facebook feed, as Meta keeps pushing people to use its AI tools. I mean, it’s spending billions to create them, so it needs to justify that with increased usage, and Meta’s seemingly hoping that people will eventually come to love its fake, AI-created content.

But will they?

I have my doubts, and again, I don’t see how this aligns with the central premise of its core apps. But expect Meta to keep pushing you to use its AI tools, in any way that it can, as it leans harder into the gen AI trend.

New AR Experiences

We know that Meta’s AR glasses are coming, with the company recently previewing its actual, physical prototype of the device.

They won’t be available to consumers for a while yet, but even so, in 2025, you can expect to see Meta setting the table for its AR wearables push, with new activations and features that will integrate its AR glasses with its apps.

So how will that happen?

Expect to see more AR experiences tied to Meta posts, including Try On experiences for products, and even furniture placement options. Meta will be looking to boost the AR hype however it can, with a view to encouraging AR glasses take up, while I also expect to see Meta add a new in-app icon to user profiles for people who have Meta Ray Bans.

Why? Well, we know from the popularity of blue checkmarks that users love to show off their importance and status, and Meta will be hoping to make owning a pair of AR glasses or Meta Ray Bans a status symbol within itself.

A little sunglass icon on the edge of your profile image could help to enhance that, and along with the aforementioned rise in AR experiences, that could help to spark the rise of AR, leading into the consumer launch of the new device.

VR integration

Along a similar line, the metaverse is still a longer-term goal for Meta, and as such, it’ll also be looking for more ways to highlight its VR experiences.

It’s already developing ways to enable non-VR users to engage with VR experiences in its apps, like combined VR and non-VR gaming.

Expect to see more of this type of integration, where VR worlds are presented in non-VR platforms.

And Meta’s evolving digital avatars will also play a role in this.

Meta’s been improving its character avatars to make them more realistic, and more customizable, in order to better align with your actual presence. The eventual concept is that these characters will represent you in more digital spaces, including the metaverse, and as such, you can expect Meta to introduce more avatar-based experiences, with a view to enhancing your connection with your digital depiction.

Expect more games that you'll be able to play as your Meta avatar, digital social environments (like Horizon) which will enable you to interact via your depiction, and again, expanded VR experiences, where both VR and non-VR users can connect.

Meta will also continue to add customizable elements, including brand name clothing, for your avatars, with a view to enhancing that digital linkage, and enabling next-level experiences in its apps.

More video

All of the engagement gains on Facebook of late have come from video posts, which is why you’re seeing more and more AI-recommended Reels flooding your feeds.

Because people watch these clips, because even if you’d prefer to see only updates from the people and pages that you’ve explicitly chosen to follow in the app, you can’t deny that Meta catches you every now and then with some nostalgic clip from a TV show or movie.

As such, you can expect Meta to continue to put more focus on video content, particularly on Facebook, in 2025.

Facebook recently added a new video tab for this purpose.

If you hadn’t guessed, TikTok is the inspiration, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook starts directly opening to this feed for some users, or enables people to set it as the default, in order to double down on its engagement gains.

Meta will also need more people to post video content to feed into this, and it’ll look to encourage more video posting where it can.

But essentially, video is the thing that powers Meta these days. Not long-form, dedicated, exclusive programming, as it's tried in the past, but short-form content, just like TikTok.

And if TikTok gets banned in the U.S., Meta’s also positioning itself to take the mantle on this front.

AI ad improvements

On the advertising front, Meta continues to push advertisers towards its automated Advantage+ options, which, on average, are now delivering better results than manually targeted ads.

Expect Meta’s systems to keep improving on this front, with in-app performance data helping to guide its systems as to which users are more likely to click, driving better results.

It may not feel right to put your trust in the machines to build your ad campaigns for you, including creative (via gen AI tools), targeting, and even budgeting in some respects. But if they deliver better results, it’s worth trying them out.

And logically, this is where generative AI should be of benefit, in taking in data, and aligning with defined parameters to optimize performance.

Maybe you’ll reach new audiences that you’d never even considered.

Instagram

Instagram has kind of become the middleman of social media platforms, doing a bit of everything, but having no specific focus of its own. It used to be the photo-sharing app, but that changed with the arrival of video, then Stories, and now, Reels is the main driver of engagement. So it’s sort of like TikTok meets Facebook, with your social graph still playing a part. But it’s also neither of these things

Here’s where I expect to see IG putting its emphasis in the next year:

Gen AI enhancement filters

Meta, again, is super keen to get people using its generative AI tools, with in-feed prompts calling on you to create your own, custom images of random scenes and depictions.

Nobody cares about these.

Well, that’s not true, a lot of people are trying out Meta’s AI creation tools, and using them as a novelty. But they’re not really in line with personal sharing, and the central purpose of Instagram as we’ve long known it.

I suspect the next evolution, then, will be AI-enhanced filters for your IG images, so that you’re not creating wholly new pictures in stream, but are instead altering your own actual photos and video clips.

Meta’s already working on its “Movie Gen” tool that will be able to alter your captured video with AI elements. I expect that to become a bigger focus on IG, with more interactive and engaging filters, for both images and video, that can provide custom alterations to your actual content.

That seems like a more logical use of AI, linking into personal sharing, as opposed to randomly creating images unrelated to your personal experience.

Integration with Ray Bans

As Meta looks to lean into AR wearables, expect to see IG also add wearable integrations, in order to help pave the way towards the next stage of connection.

Expect to see IG add in more ways for people to cross-post content from their Ray Ban glasses, including integrated live streams, which are already possible, but will get more focus and functionality.

I also expect IG to add in a dedicated section for Meta Ray Ban captured content, or an easy way to search for such, in order to showcase what the glasses can do.

The visual focus of the app lends itself perfectly to this type of cross-promotion, and I anticipate that Instagram will be tasked with finding more ways to showcase glasses functionality, with a view to Meta’s coming AR glasses launch.

AR/VR capture and spatial filters

Which also relates to this element. I expect that Meta will look to help users create 3D objects in-stream, and build VR-type AR experiences that interact with real world environments.

Snapchat did this with World Lenses shortly after the launch of Spectacles back in 2017, with digital overlays that generate interactive landscapes in the app. I expect Instagram to integrate similar, with a focus on creating AR experiences that will eventually be enhanced by Meta’s AR glasses.

These will include interactive ads and immersive AR experiences that’ll invite users into these digital worlds.

Meta’s generative AI tools will come in handy here, because they’ll enable more people to build and render 3D objects more easily, democratizing this more complex type of digital creativity, and facilitating more options within AR and VR experiences.

This will be another way to bridge the gap from social apps to more immersive experiences. And while we’re not at that next stage yet, the more Meta can showcase what’s coming, and why AR and VR will be important, the better off it will be.

Threads will ease its political restrictions

Threads is not quite at the level of having its own segment in this list as yet, so it’ll still come under Instagram this year. And on Threads, I expect, at some stage, Meta will ease its restrictions on “political” content.

Meta’s keen to step away from news and politics, and the additional scrutiny that each brings, because for one, Meta’s getting way more engagement from non-news related Reels anyway, and two, many users have voiced their criticisms of political posts taking over their Facebook feeds.

I understand why Meta’s taken the decision to step back from such, but on Threads, which is focused on being a real-time feed of the latest conversations and topical discussions, I don’t see that being a feasible strategy to optimize growth.

As such, I suspect that in the wake of the U.S. election, with the majority of the concerns about the divisive nature of such easing, Meta will begin to explore ways to lessen its reach penalties for “political” posts on Threads. Many Threads users voiced their criticisms of the platform on Election Day, as they struggled to keep up with the latest, and that seemingly highlighted the flaw in this approach.

More topical discussion, appearing in real-time, will make Threads a more engaging experience overall, and if it wants to be a true challenger for X, it needs to take this into account.

Snapchat

Snapchat remains in a difficult spot, in that it’s still hugely popular among younger audiences, yet not with adults, and it’s still leading in AR development, but it’s being challenged by much bigger, more well-resourced players.

Snap’s been trying to broaden its appeal, in order to maximize its ad opportunities, and it remains committed to building its own AR glasses, despite the aforementioned competition. And it is seeing some success in reforming its ad business, but it also seems limited, on both fronts, which could come to a head in the next year.

Scaling back AR glasses to refocus on AR development

First off, I don’t see how Snap is going to be able to create a competitive AR wearable product, with both Meta and Apple now firmly focused on this market.

I mean, Apple’s probably a way off, with its VisionPro headset being both unusable in public, and way too expensive. But Meta’s AR glasses are looking very advanced, and with sales of its Ray Ban glasses already solid, I can’t see how Snap, with way less money, and a way smaller development team, will be able to create AR Spectacles and have them viably compete.

Both devices look set to hit the market at around the same time, and Meta’s will likely be both cheaper and better, in every way. As such, I suspect, at some stage next year, Snap will be forced to abandon its plans for AR spectacles, due to both mounting development challenges, and its inability to keep up with Meta’s innovation on this front.

The only other pathway would be for Snap to partner with someone else, like Apple, in order to develop a more viable AR wearables product. But without some sort of shift like that, I don’t see how Snap will be able to keep pouring money into the project, knowing that it’s unlikely to be able to compete with Meta either way.

Maybe something changes, and Snap ends up securing some crucial advantage. But I doubt it, and I doubt that it’ll be able to keep pushing on this front as the journey to launch becomes clear.

Yet even so, Snap will still remain a leader in AR development, and that, seemingly, is where it should be focusing its efforts.

Snap did try this last year, with the launch of its ARES enterprise AR development project, but it shut it down just six months later, as part of broader cost-cutting at the company. Though that still seems like the best way for Snap to go, in providing an AR development platform for the next stage of expanded AR engagement.

If Snap could integrate its own AR experiences with Meta’s device, that seems like it would be a bigger win for the business, long term. Meta may well be keen to integrate all the AR experiences that it can, in order to enhance interest, and again, Snap is the leader in creative, engaging AR.

That seems like a more solid approach to the next stage than Snap building its own AR device.

More features coming through Snapchat+

Snapchat+, Snap’s paid subscription offering, has been a big success for the company, with 12 million users now signed up to the program. Compare that X’s “X Premium” subscription package, which has been around for the same amount of time, and has an estimated 1.3 million paying subscribers, and you can see how Snap has been much more successful in converting its most dedicated users into paying customers in-stream.

That’s because Snapchat+ is focused on utility, and providing features that Snap users will actually find valuable. Sure, there are no checkmarks included within Snapchat’s offering, but the add-ons that it does provide are relevant for Snap users, and have clearly resonated with its audience.

As such, you can expect to see Snap make a bigger push on Snapchat+ in 2025, with more and more of its latest features to be launched to paying subscribers first, before coming to free users at some stage. The appearance of these add-on elements in-stream could encourage more of Snap’s 443 million daily active users to sign-up to the program in order to access the same, while Snap will also be looking to roll out additional enhancements to entice broader interest.

If there’s anything Snap’s good at, it’s understanding its user base, and you can expect the platform to keep rolling out new Snapchat+ elements that’ll resonate on this front.

More features to connect IRL

Another aspect that Snap’s been working to enhance is its capacity to connect its users in real life, with more indicators on the Snap Map , for example, that show places that friends have been, and experiences that they’ve had.

That seems to be a winner for Snap, in helping its young user base find more things to do in real life, and you can expect to see Snap integrate more features that’ll help to connect people in 2025.

As Meta looks to take people into the more introverted worlds of AI and VR, Snap could provide an antidote in this respect, which has always been part of its core vision. Snap could also use this as a key promotional tool to win over parents, by showcasing how its app contributes to real connection, as opposed to bedroom-based avatar engagement.

This push will include new meet-up messages and map prompts to see who’s around at any given time, while it’ll also incorporate ad opportunities, like film promotions, with group booking-type functionality. Snap could also look to expand this push to event organizers, in order to drive more engagement in the app.

This could be a big opportunity for Snap, and while it has been slowly building towards this for some time, I expect it to make a bigger push on online-offline connection in the new year.

Ads in Snaps will cause blowback

Yeah, I don’t think Snap’s plan to integrate ads into people’s inbox is going to go well.

Back in September, Snap announced that it’ll soon launch “Sponsored Snaps”, which are pretty much like LinkedIn’s sponsored InMails in Snap form.

But Snap’s inbox is where people feel safest in conducting their private conversations, with the app’s disappearing messages providing an extra sense of assurance that whatever they do share via DM won’t be held against them in perpetuity.

Because of this, users have a more intimate connection with the platform as a messaging tool, and as such, I suspect that paid promotions within this element will feel intrusive, and will be a big turnoff for many users.

Meta has found this out the hard way, several times, as it’s tried to insert ads into both Messenger and WhatsApp, and Snap, too, will discover the same, and I suspect that it may have to roll back this offering at some stage.

The key challenge that this poses for Snap is that with its user base remaining stagnant in the U.S. and Europe, its top revenue markets, it needs more ads to expand its business. If this doesn’t work, that could be a concern for its future growth potential.

LinkedIn

The professional social network continues to soldier on, largely in isolation from the other big social apps. That’s because LinkedIn’s more specifically focused on professional communication, which puts it into its own category, so it’s somewhat immune from comparison in many respects.

But LinkedIn is still a social app, and it does follow at least some of the same trends as the others. It’s not always successful in such, but it is still working to add in more engagement elements, in alignment with broader social media trends, but in 2025, I expect LinkedIn to start blazing its own path a little more clearly, based on its content focus, and be less driven by broader interactive shifts.

Ease back on gen AI tools for communication

With its parent company Microsoft getting super excited about AI tools, via its integration with OpenAI, LinkedIn has also been keen to add in as many generative AI elements as possible, including post creation prompts, job application letter suggestions, profile improvement suggestions, and more.

But I think it’s gone too far into the AI stream.

Because while a lot of these features are helpful, LinkedIn’s also supposed to be where people showcase their own skills and competencies, and with more and more AI tools being added in, at every point in the LinkedIn creation process, the things that people are sharing in the app are becoming increasingly less human, and less indicative of each person’s actual output and capacity.

As such, I think LinkedIn will actually scale back its AI push this year, and might even remove some of its existing AI elements. Of course, Microsoft will have a say in this, due to its $10 billion investment into OpenAI. But I don’t see a lot of the current features being beneficial to the broader LinkedIn ecosystem.

There’ll still be plenty of AI assistant options, and users will still be able to use external tools for the same purpose, I get that. But I suspect that LinkedIn will look to scale back its in-stream prompts to use gen AI, while it may also look to rationalize its AI tools into assistive elements, not replacements for human input.

Develop new gen AI career paths

On that front, LinkedIn also has an unmatched database of professional insights, which could be hugely powerful when fed into a generative AI system.

As such, I suspect that LinkedIn may look to utilize AI in other ways, like helping people find the best career path for them, based on their listed educational and professional experiences, along with manual responses to specific questions.

I mean, it’s already doing this in a lesser capacity from the other side, in helping recruiters select the best candidates for open roles. Which means that it could also assist users in the same way, even if it is a broader application of the process.

And again, LinkedIn is better placed than any other platform to provide such insight, and as such, it could be a valuable way to use AI to show the types of career trajectories that similar people have had, and which have led to greater job satisfaction.

LinkedIn has experimented with similar in the past, but I suspect now, with AI backing, it could be an even more powerful guidance tool in this respect.

Focus on live events

Hey, remember how LinkedIn tried to be like every other social platform by implementing Stories, but nobody actually cared?

Yeah, there’s a reason for that, and it’s the same reason that LinkedIn’s experiments with a TikTok-like feed of short video clips will also fall flat: LinkedIn content, on balance, is boring. And while there is, of course, niche interest in most posts in any app, in a general consumption sense, you can’t make professional career advice as enticing as the type of clips that trend on TikTok.

Yet, at the same time, video consumption is rising in the app, with video posts generating 40% more engagement, on average, versus text updates. So LinkedIn’s right to put more focus on this element, however where it’s likely to see more take-up is with live events, and broadcasts of business-focused webinars and discussions in the app.

And LinkedIn is hosting more of them. LinkedIn recently reported that it’s seen a 14.4% increase in live events being broadcast in the app this year. And if LinkedIn also sought to partner with some major events to broadcast their sessions in the app, that could lure more professionals to the platform in order to learn directly about the latest industry news and updates.

Basically, LinkedIn needs to recognize that it’s not TikTok, and it can’t compete with the same type of entertaining content. But it does have a lot of valuable material, and it could bring in more of the same to help educate its professional audience.

TikTok

The biggest forward-looking concern for TikTok right now is whether it will even be available for U.S. users in 2025, given that the U.S. Government-approved sell-off bill looks set to go into effect sometime around February. TikTok is appealing the ruling, and legal experts believe that the company could effectively delay the deadline via various legal means. President-Elect Donald Trump has also vowed to save it, though that could be more difficult than it seems.

Yet even if it is banned in the U.S., TikTok will remain one of the world’s biggest social apps, with more than 800 million users outside America. More regions could look to take similar action against the app if it is banned in the U.S., but either way, TikTok is going to remain a relevant consideration for many marketers over the next year.

Continued shopping push

TikTok really, really wants people to buy things in the app.

The Chinese version of TikTok has seen huge success in implementing live-stream shopping, and TikTok is still seeking to replicate that same approach in Western markets, despite Western users showing limited interest in such. Yet, even so, TikTok remains determined that it can make in-app shopping a thing, which could eventually bring in billions more in revenue, and provide more opportunities for creators in the app.

And there is clear logic as to why is TikTok so dedicated to this path.

For comparison, TikTok generated around $3.8 billion in total in-app spending throughout 2023. Douyin, the Chinese version of the app, brought in over $500 billion.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big carrot that TikTok’s chasing, so while it seems like there’s not a heap of interest in TikTok shopping as yet, it will continue to push this option, in the hopes that it can somehow crack the code, and get more people buying in-stream.

And TikTok’s in-stream sales are improving. Not by hundreds of billions as yet, but as younger, more internet-native users grow into more lucrative age brackets, they are also seemingly more willing to spend in-stream.

As such, you can expect TikTok to keep pushing its in-stream shopping options in 2025, including live-stream avatars, which have become huge in China. These AI characters can be used to stream and sell for your company ongoing, providing a low cost way to generate more engagement and interest.

TikTok’s already testing these with selected partners, and it’s likely make a bigger push on them next year.

It’ll also expand into additional areas to drive more purchase behavior.

Including…

Mini programs

On Douyin, third-party developers are able to integrate “Mini Programs”, which are essentially smaller, more lightweight versions of their own apps within the broader Douyin ecosystem.

That’s expanded the in-app marketplace, with Mini Programs available for ordering food, ride-hailing, buying tickets, etc., all within the Douyin app. So now, you can conduct a lot more of your daily transactions in a single platform, which seems to be a major drawcard for Chinese users, but it may also open up more opportunity for TikTok as well.

As such, I expect, at some stage in 2025, TikTok will implement a similar initiative, facilitating mini apps within TikTok, in order to encourage more transactional behavior in-stream. Getting more people to shop in the app is as much a habitual shift as it relates to convenience, and if TikTok can facilitate more of your everyday purchase activities, that could help to get more money moving through its circuits.

If TikTok implements this, with minimal charges, that could also attract a lot of business partners, with TikTok’s massive reach as a lure. And that could be a big step towards expanding user behaviors in this context.

In-video and AI search

Another element of Douyin that hasn’t made it across to TikTok as yet (yes, I’m cheating with my TikTok predictions by checking out what Douyin has already), is in-video search, which enables users to select a section of a clip, and use that as a basis of their search query.

So it’s pretty much the same as Google Image Search, or Pinterest’s search tools, in which you can highlight an element of a picture, and then get further results based on that specific object.

TikTok has seemingly been hesitant to bring this to Western audiences, as there are concerns about stalking, and finding other videos containing the same person, etc. But I suspect that there would also be value in product searches, which could further encourage in-stream shopping, and drive more brands to upload their product catalog to match up with relevant queries.

TikTok has experimented with a version of this, and I expect to see it get a broader launch in 2025.

On a related front, TikTok is also still working on AI-enabled search, within its own AI chatbot, which would expand discovery, both in the app and across the broader web. That could be another way to enhance its search tools, and make TikTok a more all-encompassing tool for its users.

Pinterest

Pinterest also continues to follow its own path, and blaze its own trail as a product discovery engine, though it’s not really a social app anymore. Pinterest has repeatedly noted so much itself, with the app shifting its focus to product displays, and away from user engagement.

But nevertheless, it is still considered a social network within the broader industry, and it does still offer a range of promotional options in the same vein. So it may not be so much about connecting with other people, but it does facilitate similar social discovery functions, which it will be looking to build upon even more next year.

Enhanced AI try-on tools

Earlier this year, Pinterest added new “Body Type” filters for searches, powered by AI, which provide more images and examples that align with different body shapes, in order to improve the online shopping process.

The AI element lies in image matching, and discovering relevant matches across images posted to the platform.

This is the latest update to Pinterest’s evolving search tools, which are designed to help users make more informed purchase choices in the app, and in 2025, I expect to see Pinterest build on this element, while also adding more AR Try On options to facilitate the same.

Pinterest already has Try On options for makeup products, along with selected furniture items that you can virtually place in your home, while it also has skin tone search filters and hair type discovery options to refine your in-app searches.

Expect Pinterest to launch more of these type of tools, powered by AI, to improve its discovery elements, while also functioning as a benefit for brands looking to showcase their products in the app.

Streamlined catalog ingestion

In order to display more products in the app, Pinterest needs more retailers to upload their items, and to facilitate this, it’s been working to improve its catalog ingestion process, and make it easier to feed your product info direct into the app.

I expect Pinterest will make this even easier in 2025, enabling brands to basically build their in-app product listings by simply pasting in their website URL.

Google can already gather product information in this way, pulling item info from your existing website listings. If Pinterest can provide similar, that could be a big step in making it easier to build a Pin presence, which could see more businesses listing their items in the app.

Expect Pinterest to also provide more insights into trending products relevant to your business, along with AI-powered explainers of key considerations for consumers in specific product purchases.

Integration with AR glasses

No, I’m not saying that Pinterest is going to make its own AR glasses. But the AR shift is coming, and Pinterest will be looking to tap into this, by working on new integrations that will merge its own AR tools with AR devices.

Meta’s AR glasses seem like the most obvious candidate here, though it’s not clear, as yet, how open Meta’s AR ecosystem will be. But assuming Meta does open up its AR platform to third parties, it would make sense for Pinterest to start working to integrate AR display options into Meta’s device, so that you can see, for example, how clothing will look on you by selecting a Pin, then looking through the glasses at your reflection in a mirror.

Pinterest has already provided similar tools for in-store retail displays, and it seems like a logical expansion as the AR hype heats up.

It already has the requisite AR experiences, it just needs to translate them into the wearable environment.

X

Finally, we have the platform formerly known as Twitter, which now looks and feels a lot different to what it did before Elon Musk purchased the app.

“That’s because Elon’s brought free speech to the app”, “That’s because the leftists are no longer in charge.”

Yeah, yeah, I get all the talking points that Elon’s fed to you, and I know that you think this is some great advance for speech in America. But really, Elon and Co. haven’t done much to change how people actually use the app (other than driving millions of them away), and his plans for an “everything app”, incorporating all types of transactional behavior on the one platform, look further and further from reality every day.

Indeed, almost everything seems off the table at present, because if X can’t start making money soon, it simply won’t be in operation for much longer.

And while you may think that Elon won’t let that happen, because he’s the richest person in the world, he’s also a businessman. He's not going to keep running the platform as a charity, you can trust in that.

Payments

A foundational element of Elon’s “everything app” vision is payments, and facilitating first peer-to-peer transactions, and even banking, before eventually expanding to purchases in-stream.

Elon had initially said that it would “blow my mind” if payments were not available in the app by the end of 2024, but apparently, X itself has now made that virtually impossible. The company withdrew its application for payment processor approval in New York earlier this year, a state that Musk had specifically identified as a key element within his broader plan. Without NY payments approval, it seems like X’s whole payments initiative is on hold till Musk and Co. decide how they want to proceed.

So, basically, payments are not coming to X in 2024, but I would guess that by the end of 2025, X will have all the relevant approvals in place, and will be able to facilitate the first stage of this plan.

But will users actually care?

This has always been the bigger question in Musk’s “everything app” plan. Sure, you can add in whatever types of functionalities you want, and you can seek to make your app the “WeChat for the West”, following the example of the messaging platform that’s near ubiquitous in the Chinese market.

But if people don’t use these options, then who cares?

And there’s no precedent to suggest that people will use such functionality. Meta tried to make Messenger into a Western WeChat as well, and no one was overly interested, while it’s also explored various ways to facilitate all sorts of payments, and seen limited traction.

I don’t see why X, which is run by Elon Musk, who’s significantly tarnished his reputation, and trust in his brand of late, is going to attract more usage. Well, outside of those who remain utterly convinced of his unquestionable genius.

Maybe there’s enough Musk true believers to make it a viable project either way. But I doubt it, though either way, I would expect that X will eventually implement the first stage of its payments plan in the second half of 2025.

I personally don’t think that it’ll ever make it any further than that, but it does seem like it’s going to at least try out peer-to-peer payments.

Emphasis on video

Remember at the start of the year, when X CEO Linda Yaccarino randomly declared that X was now a “video first” platform, yet nothing actually changed in the app?

That was pretty weird. I mean, no more unusual than most of X’s announcements and prognostications. But how can you say that you’re now a “video first” platform, when your app doesn’t even open to a video feed?

In any event, X seems to still be trying to make video a priority, particularly original content, even if its announcements of new talent deals have been fairly sparse.

It’s signed content deals with WWE, The Big 3, and several right-wing political commentators. But outside of Tucker Carlson’s show, none of them seem to be drawing a huge audience to the app.

But X has added new playback options, like an updated CTV app, as well as improved picture-in-picture playback, and higher resolution uploads for paying users. So it is doing more to support its broader video push, even without a heap of new original content. And given that video drives the most engagement in the app, and is already a part of 80% of user sessions, it makes sense for X to keep working on this element, with a view to enhancing user engagement.

As a result, I expect to see X make video even more of a focus on 2025, via a dedicated video tab, which will highlight relevant trending video clips.

It’s already experimenting with this, and it could easily replace the “Community” or “Grok” tabs with a dedicated video feed, or add a new one to the app. It might even look to add it as a new feed that you can side-swipe across to from the main timeline, as a means to drive more video engagement.

Yaccarino will also be looking to use her TV industry connections to sign up more talent for exclusive X content, though that hasn’t really worked out thus far.

Maybe, however, more celebrities will look to join Elon’s platform post U.S. election, when Musk’s own political commentary is less of a focus.

AI enhanced search

Like every tech company, X is also looking to integrate as many generative AI elements as it can, though the current usage levels for its Grok AI chatbot can’t be high, given that it’s only available to X Premium users.

Data suggests that X only has around 1.3 million paying subscribers at present, or 0.26% of its user base, which is not a big test pool for its initial AI offering. And as X and Elon continue to invest in developing AI infrastructure, you can expect to see X look for more places to insert AI-based options.

Look for X to enhance its search tools with AI, including summaries of events, and enhanced guidance, as well as the capacity to pose conversational queries. X could also look to provide more analytical insight into its search tool (likely for paying users) which would give you another way to dig into X’s data and trends.

Really, I half expect X to just make Grok its default search engine for all users. X needs more people to use Grok to showcase its capacity, and it would make sense for X to provide it to all users at some stage.

Though X also needs to make money, and getting more people to pay for the app remains a key pillar in its monetization plan. Again, that hasn’t worked as yet, but maybe X will look to stick to its incentive structure to lure more paying users.

But either way, X will be seeking more investment in its AI oprojects, and to get that, it’ll need to show more people just how good its AI tools can be.

Image creation, post analysis, post composer tips, all of these are already in testing in the app, and all could be coming to all users at some stage in 2025.

Trump Bump?

But really, the biggest driver for X, the thing that will have the biggest impact, and could change the fate of the app, is Musk’s relationship with President-Elect Donald Trump, and how that plays out with Trump back in office.

Trump’s election victory will provide new opportunities for X, potentially through government projects, or via new business deals relating to Musk’s own political influence.

Which is the real play for Elon, in using X to sway voters based on his own presence in the app, and his ability to influence platform approaches to benefit whatever cause he chooses. Musk has already been using the platform to try and oust governments that have made things difficult for his companies, while also capitalizing on his status as the most-followed person on X to voice his support for leaders who are willing to cut deals with him.

But Trump is Elon’s key project.

Trump and Elon make for strange bedfellows, given both have publicly criticized each other in the recent past. Yet Elon knows that his relationship with Trump will potentially enable him to re-shape government policies to benefit his business interests, which could be worth significantly more to him in the long run than the $44 billion he paid for the app.

And as noted, Trump’s victory is also a valuable endorsement of Musk’s own political sway, and his capability to get politicians elected, which is another bargaining chip that he’ll now be able to pitch to other political challengers around the world. Which may also present new opportunities for X, at a key time, given the app is still losing money, and audience, and has been on a fast track to bankruptcy.

I had expected that a Trump loss would signal the beginning of the end for Musk’s social media project, as Musk would start to lose interest, as the platform continued to flail under a Harris-led government. But Trump’s victory has provided the opposite, with X now poised to take on more relevance, as brands re-consider the app’s status, and value to its 500 million users.

The other question, then, is would X consider merging with Trump’s “Truth Social” to form a right-wing powerhouse platform?

I have my doubts on this, only because it would require intertwining the direct business interests of two men with very fragile egos, which would complicate things if/when there is an eventual fallout between them.

But Elon seems very comfortable taking part in Trump’s MAGA rallies, and maybe, this will bring the two closer together.

I doubt that a merger will happen on this front, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

----

These are my tips for what we’ll see happen on social media in 2025. Nothing crazy, no “AI is going to take over everything” type takes (though that’s kind of what Zuckerberg seems to think is going to happen). But steady developments, that will keep moving things towards the next stage, while also seeking to capitalize on the engagement-driving trends of the moment.