THE INTERNET IS EXHAUSTED.
By Carla Hawkes Founder, Creative Strategy & Growth Consulting @ And Counting
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My plea for 2026: let’s make social fun again.
As we head into yet another wildly chaotic news year, be nice to your social team. They’re exhausted. And not for the reasons you think.
Yes, the workload has exploded. Social is now a brand’s website, marketing engine, and customer service desk all rolled into one – and the social team is expected to run it solo. On top of that, staying ahead of every new trend and tool – and deciding whether this time the “new Twitter” really is the new Twitter – requires membership to a club none of us asked to join: the perpetually online.
But the part no one talks about is the mental toll of simply… being online for a living.
We know screen time is linked to anxiety. Now add an algorithm that rewards rage-bait, conspiracy theories, and a constant barrage of “breaking news.” More days than not, it feels like the Head of Social title should just be Head of Doomscrolling. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Charlie Warzel reminded us in The Atlantic that the internet isn’t a monolith – for every dark corner, there’s another that’s silly, joyful, productive, or harmless. Every now and then, those bright spots appear – the ones that remind me why I fell in love with Big Internet in the first place. Because it wasn’t always like this. It used to be (dare I age myself here?!)... fun. And it still can be.
A few reminders from 2025 that the internet can be delightful:
Morgan Evelyn Cook’s whisper vlogs that feel like a collective exhale for everyone who is so tired of yelling online
Lenovo’s social team accidentally shooting their event horizontally and then… posting it anyway
J.Crew tapping Benny Drama to dramatically read real customer reviews, proving comedy is still a solid brand strategy
The Wisconsin library popping off on TikTok to remind us why local libraries matter, and somehow making card renewals cool again
Olive Garden turning a single breadstick into a recurring social icon, one absurd meme at a time
AARP showing us that TikTok is not – and never was – just Gen Z territory
That unhinged week when you couldn’t scroll for even one minute without seeing something in 1520 x 1080
Taylor Swift’s soft troll of J.D. Vance, a masterclass in how to say everything without saying anything
Yahoo!’s unexpectedly glorious rebrand as a social-forward, self-aware internet elder
These moments don’t erase the dark corners of the internet, but they prove something important: joy still breaks through. Humor, connection, absurdity, and curiosity still win – even when the algorithm is trying to convince you otherwise.
I ran a Gen-Z focus group at the end of last year for a client who, like many, is scrambling to understand how to market to young people. Every single participant said they don’t follow a single brand – not one! – because they’re tired of being advertised to. As a reminder, this is a generation that’s been served spon-con since age 13. As a marketer, I panicked. As a human, I whispered to myself, “good for them.” That night, I unfollowed every overly promotional brand and alarmist news pundit on my own feed, and I swear it felt like I took my first deep breath in five years.
Elaine Welteroth captured the zeitgeist perfectly in her POV post about how it feels to be online right now. The top comment nails it: “Excellent post. For those who understand, no explanation required.” That comment got 78 likes because, well, we all understand.
Author Matt Haig similarly captured what so many of us can’t articulate in his ‘I miss social media’ post: “Whatever this is, it doesn’t feel social. I want to come online and meaningfully follow and engage with people I like. Instead I get bombarded with video content from people I don’t follow… just stuff designed to distract you in the moment… an ADHD nightmare.”
And what does it say about us that this terms to help you go viral list includes the words “warning, chaotic, toxic, unhinged and delulu?” I remember a time when #love was Instagram’s top hashtag not one, but two years in a row (2015-2016).
And yet – I truly believe we can make social fun again.
There are so many accounts, creators, and communities online *right now* that are genuinely funny, uplifting, and thoughtful. They just get buried under noise.
Part of our job as digital storytellers – maybe the most important part – is to help reprogram the internet. To surface joy over rage. Connection over chaos. Curiosity over conspiracy. To design feeds that make people feel welcome and want to stay, not head to Tompkins Square Park on a Friday night to delete their social media with a bunch of strangers.
And part of our job as an audience is to reward the creators and brands who make good things by sharing, saving, and subscribing. If we all engaged with hope as much as we did with outrage, the algorithm would be a much different engine.
My hope for 2026? Not just growth. Not just engagement. Let’s make social fun again.
Carla Hawkes is a social strategy and digital growth consultant. As founder of –And Counting, she has launched growth strategies for high-visibility brands including The Ellen DeGeneres Show, POPSUGAR, Mattel, Dear Media, Crooked Media, Motherly, Hourglass Cosmetics, and more. To collaborate with Carla on social strategy or growth initiatives, connect with her through THE BOARD, where she partners with brands as part of our expert bench.
Carla advises brands on social strategy and digital growth through THE BOARD, where she serves as a core expert partner for high-impact projects.
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