AI is reshaping brand safety by amplifying risks around placement, accuracy, and authenticity while offering new tools to control them. As automation scales, marketers face a growing tradeoff between performance gains and trust.

Bluesky’s growth is defying social media convention. COO Rose Wang told EMARKETER the platform’s momentum comes not from algorithmic reach but from conversation and community. “People are coming for the discussion and staying for the connection,” she said. Bluesky, now past 40 million users, is attracting audiences fleeing top-down platforms and gravitating toward participatory, user-led spaces. Custom feeds and decentralized moderation let culture form organically, giving advertisers a glimpse into early-stage cultural formation. For marketers, Bluesky’s appeal isn’t reach—it’s relevance. As Wang put it, “People still want to gather.” In a fragmented ecosystem, that’s a powerful foundation.

Aggressive moderation tactics on Threads are pushing users away, threatening its growth. Competitors like Bluesky and Mastodon stand to benefit from this frustration.

TikTok is betting big on AI for content moderation: The company laid off hundreds of employees who reviewed harmful content as legal battles mount.

Twitter’s turbulent takeover: The Twitter-Musk saga is one of the biggest stories for 2022 that will likely continue into 2023. It could strangle other Musk-owned businesses like Tesla, which Musk is using to sell stock to keep Twitter afloat.

Even TikTok is struggling to stop harmful content: A new lawsuit and complaints from creators could stand in the way of its social commerce goals.