Would love to hear your thoughts @Nycole @Anna Laura McGranahan @annarangos @dan.levey @Katy4Riskonnect @alexia.monsen @brad.keeling @Val @melissa.macgregor @julia_calstrs @raven.gill!  

For me, social has evolved from having a certain number of followers to being all about engagement and creating meaningful conversations. It’s now about being educational and entertaining to the audience. 

I miss the days of being able to boost a post on Facebook without having to deal with Meta Business Manager and actually achieving legitimate results. 

Wow - I love this question, @Jonathan Zuluaga! 

Social media has evolved so much over the past 14 years -- I think the biggest way we’ve seen it evolve in the B2B Marketing world is that LinkedIn has become ‘the place’ for SMMs to focus their time in terms of creating content for a platform where key buyer personas (C-Suite, decision-makers, etc.) can be targeted both organically and via LinkedIn ads. 

LinkedIn was my ‘in’ as a social media marketer -- it is literally the reason why I do what I do. Other platforms never really hooked me quite like LinkedIn did back in 2019 in what I like to call ‘the wild west’ of content creation over there. We’ve seen so many changes on that platform since 2019 -- from the intro of carousels, to polls, the invent of LinkedIn Live, and the new LinkedIn video feed. 

A 2010s social media trend that I’m nostalgic for...hmm...I’d have to say #ThrowbackThursday was a great IG and Facebook trend because it provided an opportunity to use social media to capture the magic of a moment from the past. Some of my favorites from that trend were when people would use a physical photo from the ‘80s or ‘90s or maybe even a pull out a super old Polaroid. 

And to throw things way back -- Myspace was the best social media platform of all-time, lol. I loved all of the ways that you could personalize your Myspace profile -- from adding your favorite song to play when people landed on your profile, to being able to add a custom background, and list your besties on the page. It’s crazy to me that many Gen Z people have no clue what Myspace is. Does that make me old?! 

The evolution of social media marketing has been remarkable, transitioning from fun brands targeting teenagers to an essential tool for nearly every industry. Initially, social media platforms were primarily used by brands for broadcasting messages, much like digital billboards. However, the landscape has shifted significantly, causing a change in brand strategies. The current emphasis is on fostering conversations, engaging audiences, and creating interactive experiences. This transformation allows brands to build stronger relationships with their audiences, respond to feedback, and create a sense of community, ultimately leading to more meaningful and lasting connections.

A trend I’m nostalgic for...Facebook pokes. I know they are still a thing technically but they are so buried and it’s no longer fun. I remember at one time having up to 20 poking wars with my friends from high school at any given moment. It was just an easy quick thing to let someone know you were thinking of them, without needing to actually say anything. 

What a great question, thanks for the tag @Jonathan Zuluaga! (and sign me all the way up for that Owala Tumblr and “Organic Social Media” by @Jenny Fowler!)

Q: How would you say social media has evolved in the past fourteen years? What 2010s social media trends are you nostalgic for?
 

A: Evolution evolves at lightspeed in social media. In the dawn of early aughts platforms like Myspace and Facebook, social platforms were bright and shiny. They were the next frontier of human connection and communication, a status symbol, and a place for fun. (remember Facebook Flair, pokes, and Top 8?)

Moving into the 2010's, we saw the rise of Instagram, social ads, YouTube beauty gurus, and early influencers. Social became more monetized and metrics became more important. It was also around this time that "working in social media" started feeling like a viable career path for many.

Pandemic social media was an entirely new era focused on authenticity. TikTok and Twitter especially rose up to educate, entertain, and expand people's worldviews. I saw social media being used for genuine connection at a time when travel was restricted and people were feeling isolated.

In 2024, social continues to rapidly evolve. We've seen countless new platforms, algorithms, and expanded advertising capabilities. The communication is still happening, you just might need to be on 7 different platforms to keep up with your friends. And as legacy social platforms lose sight of their original objectives and try to become "everything" platforms, they run the risk of diluting user experience.

Aside from Facebook Flair (RIP), I think I'm most nostalgic for early Instagram and Vine trends in ~2014-2015. Everyone was using Valencia filters to share their breakfast and laughing at 6-second jokes on Vine. Before all the ads and algorithm changes (and Meta/Twitter takeovers), social felt a little more carefree.

@raven.gill I had the *biggest* crush on this guy in high school. Instead of actually talking to him, we communicated solely via Facebook poke. 

Q: How would you say social media has evolved in the past fourteen years? What 2010s social media trends are you nostalgic for?

A: I miss the old instagram. When it was strictly just photo sharing. No super hard sales or gimmicks (personally) 

From a professional standpoint, social media ads were much easier to put into play back in the 2010s 

I think one of the biggest changes I’ve seen is how marketing happens on social. For instance, I think brands are much more focused on branding now than they used to be (though this seems to evolving again as consumers prioritize authenticity). Still, when you view a company’s grid, it’s usually obvious that they have a visual brand. This was not always the case. 

I don’t know that I necessarily “miss” this trend, but I often remember how you used to be able to see everyone’s likes on Instagram and could see people’s best friends on Snapchat. Knowing that X is planning to take away the ability of seeing likes soon, it almost feels nostalgic to think about how nosy we all used to be on social! I think it has evolved for the better in that way, but at the same time, it all felt so authentic back then. 

I think social media has evolved the most as a marketing tool. A lot of businesses don’t even have websites anymore because they know folks are going straight to social media to find them.

What I miss the most is when all social media posts were shown in chronological order by default. Those were the good ol’ days.

One of the most significant changes has been the rise of mobile technology. Back in 2010, accessing social media on-the-go was not as seamless as it is today. Now, with smartphones and apps, social media is an integral part of our daily lives, allowing us to stay connected anywhere, anytime.

As for social media trends from the 2010s that I'm nostalgic for, I'd say the simpler times of Facebook. Back then, it felt more personal and less commercialized. I miss the days of posting status updates about daily life and the excitement of connecting with old friends. Also, the era of early Instagram with its straightforward photo-sharing and quirky filters brings back fond memories.

There has been a large shift from photos to video in the past 14 years, especially short-form video content such as Reels and TikToks.

I am nostalgic for the earlier days of Instagram when there were only photo posts that often had filters on them. It was such a fun and simple way to share a snapshot of your life, whether that was a photo of you and your friends, a pretty landscape view, or food.

Social media, in general, has become so focused on metrics since its inception… not so much genuine connection, no matter what they say!

Honestly, I miss MySpace and all of those heart-stopping notifications about new friend requests - or new comments and wall posts - and when you were there simply to “creep” on others and connect… while also trying to decide which song you wanted to live on your profile. Those were much simpler days!

Over the last 14 years, I have transitioned from a casual social media user to a professional social media manager. In this time, I have witnessed the evolution of social media into a platform for fostering meaningful connections between brands and their consumers. It is remarkable to see how companies now regard social media as a critical marketing tool to drive sales and increase conversions. If someone had told me this was happening in 2010, I wouldn’t have believed them. 

The trend I think I miss most is using the in app filters for Instagram. It made for such a causal fun experience that we don’t see as much of anymore. Also Vine I miss Vine. 

Woah, where to even begin … social media has changed so drastically since 2010. Two things that stand out the most for me are the rise in artificial intelligence (AI) - for good or bad - and the concept of brands creating communities and relationships with customers, versus constant promotion and talking at their audiences. Social media, even for brands, has become an arena for authenticity and honest sharing of opinions, including micro-influencing. I’m here for all of this.

As for AI, I use it every day to help assist me with prompts and create quirky, fun and engaging captions for my clients’ audiences on social media. At the foundation, it’s all about the details you put into your prompts for platforms like ChatGPT - if you put crap in, you’ll get crap out, so I have to be very detailed in my prompts. I generally expand on the brand tone, voice and audience to help the platform create even more tailored content. It’s helped me streamline my daily work processes so much! #ForeverGrateful

As for what I miss, I miss the early days of MySpace, which is really dating me. But the hours I’d spend customizing my profile with Hello Kitty glittery graphics and bold fonts was ~epic.~ I also miss being able to add a playlist to your profile that would automatically play when a friend visited - so fun and personal!

What a great question! I have had a Facebook since 2004 (remember having to have the @edu to be able to sign in?!) and I miss the days when you used your digital point and shoot camera to upload all those photos with friends from the college party. No filters required. I remember Myspace and the Top 8 that always ensued in some drama amongst friends. A guy broke up with me without telling me but moved me down on his Top 8 from #2 to #7 LOL. I remember when Instagram came out and those borders around the photos were all the rage!! I am totally aging myself .

I think social media has transformed over the years in so many ways. I think follower count was such a big deal pre pandemic and then post pandemic it really became about the engagement rate and having a quality, engaging audience over quantity. Vine and others that are RIP we remember and even Snapchat isn’t what it used to be. I remember also when IG dropped stories and Meta was clearly copying Snap IMHO. I think for businesses FB and IG Ads have increased in success for businesses and for B2B LinkedIn ads seem to crush it. What did we do before programs like Canva and Sprout Social?! I have been working as a Social Media Manager since 2012 and wow how I have seen and embraced and even really disliked many of the changes, but with social media, you always have to be on your toes!! 

I think it is interesting that social media started out incredibly organic and authentic with people sharing anything and everything in the early days (here’s to you, Facebook photo albums with 100+ photos from the previous night where each friend was meticulously tagged) to being extremely curated and perfected in the 2010’s with colorgraded, themed Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards to the pendulum swinging back to that authenticity factor being the most important thing in recent years with the help of the pandemic and TikTok. 

Agree with some others above - love that the focus is now on engagement rather than followers. It makes us all better creators and SMMs.

As I mentioned with the Facebook photo albums, I think that is the time I’m most nostalgic for. Also, back then, every Facebook status (it wasn’t even called a “post” then!) started with “YOUR NAME is ________.” I couldn’t believe it when they removed the “is”! 

It's interesting – as I gathered my thoughts here, the more I realized how similar social media is at it’s core, but the experience feels totally different!

The biggest shift I've noticed is the move to short-form content. Throwback to heavy YouTube videos and those long Tumblr posts that felt like journal entries. There's a certain charm to long-form content, a sense of artistry in crafting a story. I miss the effort and depth that went into it.

Don't get me wrong though, short-form content can be quite challenging and requires plenty of strategy!

I think it was a kinder, gentler environment back then, not by a race to become influencers. The excitement to connect with friends—and, more impressively, strangers who then became cyber friends—prevailed. It wasn’t all about ads. There was less cynicism, nobody warned about false and misinformation, and trolls were few, if any. Amateur photos and a sincere, often goofy caption were enough. Today, the platforms demand an ever-changing and increasing level of professionalism and sophistication that is exhausting and debilitating to keep up with. 

I am nostalgic for the early 2010s Facebook experience. Facebook was fun for me both professionally and personally. 

Personally, I could like the pages I wanted to see on my feed and keep up with them just from scrolling. My favorite restaurants would offer specials, non-profits would announce events and local stores would post new arrivals - and I would see them. I didn’t have to go to their pages individually to see what was new. It made me a better member of my community, and I was able to shop locally with ease. Additionally, I could see photos of my friends and neighbors having fun and we could share a laugh together.

Professionally, I could post fun and engaging content and interact with my community. I could boost posts right from my phone if I had a message I really needed or wanted to share. It was an amazing marketing tool, and was more effective at branding than any other channel I have used in my 25-year marketing career. 

Everything changed in 2015/2016 with the U.S. political season. Facebook became a nasty place where I didn’t want to engage personally and dreaded engaging professionally. Then in 2019 Facebook made more changes and it was no longer a place where you could count on paying to play. We had to switch gears to groups, and then even groups didn’t work well for us. 

Wouldn’t everyone be happier if we could go back to 2010-2014 Facebook? Maybe everyone except Meta shareholders? Maybe even they would be happier. I say we give it a try. 

Ah… 2010. social media was less commercialized than it is today and those of us that were using it organically for marketing made an impact. I can remember seeing a tweet, running down the hall to my CEO’s office to ask if he had time to reply personally (as him vs. the brand), pow-wowing on how best to reply, running back to my desk and forwarding him the link to that tweet. And then we’d blow that person’s mind with speed of reply and personalized response from a CEO. I also loved LinkedIn Answers and brought revenue into the company simply by listening and reaching out. Colleagues were blown away by social’s ability to shorten the sales cycle. Feeds were more chronological back then too, so there was a lot less ‘playing to the algorithm’ strategies. I used Facebook and Twitter a lot more back then than I do today, where I prefer LinkedIn and Instagram. 

Things I miss:

• Chronological newsfeeds
• Twitter parties
• Old Twitter in general

But what I’ve seen time and again over the past 14 years is social media’s power to bring people together, to educate and inspire. 

Q: How would you say social media has evolved in the past fourteen years? What 2010s social media trends are you nostalgic for?

2010 is right around the time I started in social media management, so this is making me extra nostalgic. My very first post for work was about a community blood drive. Back then, I would post on the company’s Facebook every few weeks when our new sales cycle started. 

Trends seemed to move so much slower 14 years ago! But I’m mostly nostalgic for being interested in posting on my personal social media accounts. I used to post regularly on Facebook and Instagram—my friends and I used Facebook notes a lot. Now, I don’t even remember the last time I posted on my personal Facebook.

As for work-related social, I’m nostalgic for the classic IG filters and frames being trendy. When I started up an Instagram account for my employer in 2011-ish, I remember creating a document outlining which filters and frames to use for the different sales departments. 

In the last fourteen years, social media has reflected both technological advancements and social trends at-large. In both cases, it’s for the better and worse.

But I think more about the social implications, both pro and con. Socially, we’ve had greater democratization of news and information than ever before, more connectivity between wide-ranging groups of people, and allowing marginalized groups a platform from which to share their experiences. All good things, all benefits of the growth of social media platforms and communities within them. On the downside, misinformation dissemination, cyberbullying, mental health challenges from the overuse of misuse of social media, especially among the young, are persistent concerns on social media platforms of all kinds. Finding solutions for these problems remain a challenge. 

Social media trends from the 2010’s I’m most nostalgic for? I think, for me,  Twitter (X) and Facebook features were at or near their peak and more fun to engage with. These days, bots and ads have taken over a lot of my feeds, and it feels less community-driven than it used to be. It may also reflect my awareness over time of how data is used on these platforms. 

Road work ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does." I'm in me mum's car, broom broom. "A potato flew around my room," and I’m like, "What are those?" "Do it for the Vine?" Nah, "My money don’t jiggle jiggle, it folds. I like to see you wiggle, wiggle, for sure." "Negroni, sbagliato, with prosecco in it," please. "Look at all those chickens!" "Why you always lyin'?" "Ain't nobody got time for that!" "It’s Wednesday, my dudes." "Yeet!" "Ooh, kill 'em!" "Is this real life?" "Damn, Daniel!" "Cash me outside, how 'bout dat?" Social media? "What a time to be alive! 

Love the question!

Social Media has evolved a lot. Mostly as a professional working +15 years in it, I can tell you; my generation of social media managers have 0 formation on it. It was the “get that creative guy that likes to do videos over to run the socials”

And that’s how it was back then: get them to work on “the likes”

I accidentally ran social media for a company by chance, as it was needed, and eventually, professionalized the job.

Things that stayed

• The believe that Social Media is all for free: “get us viral”, “make our brand visible out there”
• Creativity: yes, because is all about authenticity since day 1 - And even if advertisement came over to take the place around the socials, the platforms that heavily abused this, lost their “cool” so at the end, Social 1 - Sales 0 (look at how TikTok bursted in a saturated social media market!)

Things that changed

• “long-form” to “short-form”: YouTube used to be all about getting people entertained with compelling long videos, and it was how “all it started” but now the shorter and to the point, the better. 
• Niche / more tailored platforms: it’s no longer one ring fits (all)
• Engagement and NOT followers: I strongly believe it was always about engagement, but platforms, people, companies, were all crazy about “Followers” as a symbol of “Growth” - now the algorithm is no longer taking that element into consideration, and you need to be more strategic to be relevant (and be relevant, authentic, relatable, to have visibility for free!)
• The “professionalization” and break-down of influencers: no longer we talk about 1 type of influencers. Now there are celebrities that become influencers. influencers that become celebrities, macro-influencers, micro-influencers, nano, now content creators… 

And I could be here hours

All the best to the Arb community!