B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • Federal Election
  • WPP
  • Thinkerbell
  • Anthony Albanese
  • NRL
  • State of Origin
  • AI
  • Cannes Lions
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • B&T Women in Media
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Channel 10
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Think Forward 2024: Report Describes A ‘Social Reckoning’ For Brands In Value-Driven Online Spaces
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Marketing > Think Forward 2024: Report Describes A ‘Social Reckoning’ For Brands In Value-Driven Online Spaces
Marketing

Think Forward 2024: Report Describes A ‘Social Reckoning’ For Brands In Value-Driven Online Spaces

Staff Writers
Published on: 6th November 2023 at 8:34 AM
Edited by Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social today launched the latest edition of its annual trends report, Think Forward 2024.

This year’s report, titled ‘The Social Reckoning’, examines how, in a backdrop of increased commercialisation and commodification, people on social media are rethinking and reframing their worth. They are examining the value derived from their attention and participation, their communities, and their creativity.

Think Forward 2024 explains how this new sense of value has played out across social, from the de-influencing trend helping creators flex what they know rather than what they have to the debate around users being able to buy their way into verification on X (formerly Twitter). It argues that cultural phenomena like 2023’s ‘Barbiemania’ demonstrate that people will willingly buy into manufactured hype as long as it makes space for community, creativity, and play.

We Are Social has highlighted five trends within ‘The Social Reckoning’ theme, exploring how each is expected to shape social media in the next 12 months and demonstrating how brands can use these within their marketing strategies.

Think Forward is compiled by We Are Social’s cultural insights team, gathering insights from teams on the ground across its 19 global markets. This was combined with interviews with external experts to help We Are Social understand broad cultural context, the social media zeitgeist and voices outside the mainstream.

The five trends covered in Think Forward 2024 are:

Attention Layering

Having reached peak stimulus with ‘sludge content’, the attention economy is shifting gears. The most forward-thinking users, creators, and culture-leading brands are toying with other modes of bringing people in – ones that turn away from hyper-stimulation.

Post-Representation

People – whether minorities, disempowered groups, or just users writ large – still value representation. But in today’s culture, there’s less faith in the power of representation alone. As notions of identity compound and deepen, communities want to see messy complexity over neat narratives.

Offline Internet

People are looking for more interaction between on- and offline worlds. Today, characters, communities, and behaviours born on the internet are moving seamlessly into offline worlds. And this interplay isn’t just tolerated – it’s expected.

Everyday Fandom

The year of Barbenheimer and the Eras Tour has made it clear: in search of mainstream collectivity, everyday users are acting like ultra-fans. The lines between fan and non-fan are increasingly blurred, as we all engage in fan behaviours and immerse ourselves in collective moments.

Mischief Mode

As social media and the internet become more commoditised, users are breaking out of its commercial structures in an attempt to reclaim creativity. Amidst the homogenisation of online spaces, there’s a compelling counter-trend emerging, spearheaded by younger generations.

“This year’s Think Forward report highlights the power of culture to truly connect with consumers. But social and culture never sleep and so for brands to successfully navigate the shifting landscape, they must move beyond simple sponsored content, and develop a fluency in culture, focussing on authentically engaging communities and bringing together online and offline conversations and connections,” said Suzie Shaw, CEO at We Are Social Australia.

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: We Are Social
Share
By Cristina Forlani
Follow:
With over 8 years experience in the marketing and advertising industry, spanning both traditional and digital channels, I have worked with clients across a diverse client range including Beauty, Fashion, FMCG, Food&Wine, Travel / Tourism, Tech, Telco, Financial services. I’m driven by a genuine interest in people/consumers and their motivations, excited by the evolution of media, passionate about delivering insight-based ideas, focused on the development of socially-led campaigns that aim to achieve measurable goals and business results. I’m keen to make things happen, my mission is to deliver projects on time and on budget by leading a collaborative and motivated team working together to create something to be proud of. I have a proven track record in growing client revenues and agency profitability, as well as introducing new processes and tools to boost efficiency both internally and with the client. I'm an Account Director at We Are Social, a global agency. We deliver world class creative ideas with forward thinking brands. We believe in people, not platforms and the power of social insight to drive business value. We call this social thinking.

Latest News

Glimpse Inside the Cannes Jury Room  
20/06/2025
Destination NSW Partners With CommBank To Unlock Visitor Economy Insights
20/06/2025
Infinite Dial Australia 2025: Half Of Australians Choose To Consume Podcasts Monthly
20/06/2025
$3 Billion NBN Promise Falls Flat For Regional Australia
20/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?