Across major platforms, public posting is stagnating while private behaviours are accelerating. People are sharing less to open feeds and more through direct messages, close-friends lists, private groups, and saves. Platforms themselves are responding accordingly, placing greater emphasis on messaging, private sharing, and utility-driven features rather than public broadcast. Visibility, once the default mode of participation, now carries social risk and emotional cost. As a result, engagement is becoming more selective, more intentional, and more private.

As digital culture matures, users are optimising less for reach or performance and more for usefulness, safety, and control. The value of a platform is no longer measured solely by how loudly or frequently someone posts, but by how reliably it supports their needs without demanding constant exposure.

This shift has material implications for business and brands.

Broadcast thinking - designed for attention, amplification, and public performance - is increasingly misaligned with how people now use social platforms. Future value will come from service-led touchpoints that operate comfortably within private spaces; from interactions that respect discretion rather than demand visibility; and from success metrics grounded in trust, repeat reliance, and practical utility rather than scale alone.

Social media is not disappearing. It is becoming infrastructure.