The end of short-form content
Kate Lindsay argues that major social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter) are dying as genuine social platforms due to AI-generated content flooding feeds, while predicting a shift toward long-form content on platforms like YouTube, Substack, and newsletters that have proven more durable and resistant to AI dilution.
Summary
Kate Lindsay's essay examines the decline of social media platforms and forecasts the future of online content consumption. She opens by declaring that social media 'died' when she encountered an obviously AI-generated TikTok video that viewers earnestly engaged with rather than critiquing, suggesting the platforms have fundamentally shifted from human-driven to AI-driven content ecosystems.
Lindsay traces the history of social media innovation, noting that from 2004 to 2018, new platforms emerged regularly (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok), each introducing novel formats. However, since TikTok's 2018 rise, innovation has stalled—instead, existing platforms panicked and copied TikTok's short-form video and algorithmic discovery model, resulting in diluted, homogeneous, and ultimately uninteresting platforms. She argues that AI, while the current 'shiny thing,' is inherently anti-social and incompatible with genuine social connection.
Lindsay highlights a viral baseball stadium moment where the featured mother (Erika) broke her silence on Substack rather than Instagram, representing a broader trend of people turning to newsletter platforms and longer-form writing to express ideas that don't fit platform constraints. She notes that platforms like Substack and Beehiiv, while not standing the test of time yet, serve as companions to short-form platforms because humans have more to communicate than those formats allow.
The essay identifies YouTube as the most resilient platform, with 84% of American adults using it as of 2025—higher than any other platform including Facebook. Lindsay predicts that the future of the social internet lies in long-form content: lengthy YouTube videos, written essays, and uninterrupted livestreams are more resistant to AI replication and make AI-generated content obviously inferior. She suggests this shift is already beginning and represents a return to formats that showcase genuine human thinking rather than algorithmic commodity.
About this episode
It’s time to go long.
Key Insights
- Lindsay argues that TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter have ceased functioning as genuine social platforms not because they're disappearing, but because AI-generated content has flooded their feeds and confused their recommendation algorithms, pushing out human-created work.
- The author claims that social media innovation stopped in 2018 when TikTok launched short-form video, and instead of creating new platforms, existing billion-dollar apps copied TikTok's formula, resulting in diluted and uninteresting platforms rather than evolution.
- Lindsay contends that AI is inherently anti-social because it cannot replicate genuine human connection, suggesting that while AI content may work as background consumption, it fails as a model for platforms built on human interaction.
- The author observes that newsletter platforms like Substack have gained traction not primarily as monetization tools for celebrities, but because ordinary people use them to express ideas that exceed the constraints of short-form social media platforms.
- Lindsay predicts that long-form content (40-minute videos, lengthy essays, livestreams) will become the future of the social internet because AI-generated content becomes obviously inferior and grating when held to the standard of showcasing actual human thinking over an extended format.
Topics
Transcript
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci. I’m on a panel this Thursday with Everden to talk about kids’ mental health and screen time. RSVP here !! — Kate New on ICYMI: Dream guest for a dream topic: Franchesca Ramsey joined me to try to answer the question…WTF is happening on Threads??? Head over here to subscribe to ICYMI wherever you listen to podcasts 🫶 How it feels to have a Substack In January, I predicted that social media dies in 2026 . Different people may declare a different time of death, but for me, the end was confirmed by this TikTok about “things we do at…
Full transcript available for MurmurCast members
Sign Up to AccessMore from Embedded
camping for our anniversary
No transcript content was provided to analyze.
Never quit your side hustle for a staff job
Nick and Kate discuss the origin and evolution of their media newsletter Embedded, from its accidental launch on Substack during the pandemic to nearly being absorbed into The Atlantic. They reflect on early mistakes, the value of reader monetization, and why declining The Atlantic's offer was ultimately the right decision.
Why am I so bad at replying to texts?
Kate Lindsay, editor of Embedded, discusses her decade-long struggle with replying to texts, a New Year's resolution she has failed at every year since at least 2017. She acknowledges owing responses to multiple people despite liking them and finding the conversations non-threatening, attributing her poor texting habits to a personal failing she repeatedly excuses.
This media_gossip has been redacted
Episode 75 of Hip Replacement features Kate Lindsay discussing her relationship with The Sims and gaming habits, while the episode also covers Patreon's user exodus, the New York Times Amy Griffin piece, and a lesbian bar's role in journalism.
My Internet: Steven Hyden
Steven Hyden, music critic and author of a book about The Strokes, discusses his media consumption habits, skepticism toward AI and gambling apps, and his theory that public shit-talking has migrated from social media to private group chats. He emphasizes the importance of struggle in creative work and expresses concerns about the decline of traditional institutional media.