Codeword shares predictions for the darkest timeline

Prediction

Newsrooms will keep shrinking as AI content grows and alt mediums from newsletters to podcasts become more abundant. This will also mean a shift towards more focused content as these alt mediums double down on their niche.

Prediction

Instagram’s new content moderation policies will lead to a mass user exodus on par with Twitter’s. And without a logical new platform to decamp to, we’ll see a balkanization into smaller blogging platforms.

Prediction

Logging Off: It’ll actually happen this time. As social media feeds get dominated by AI slop and bots, people will realize that apps from X to Bluesky to Instagram are effectively empty malls where you used to hang out. Reaching people IRL will be as difficult as ever, but insinuating themselves into offline communities—and maybe not even posting about it—will be the one thing every brand tries to do.

Prediction

Major organizing and radicalization will happen following the election and TikTok ban. It will lead to the mass deletion of Instagram and Twitter and inspire local activism and mutual aid participation like never before.

Prediction

Home-renovation shows will pivot to “rebuilding LA.”

Prediction

While LLMs are trending towards commoditization, the real battleground will be vertical integration. Companies will wrap LLMs in custom-tailored solutions, like a car with a unique body and features built around a standard engine. They’ll integrate specialized interfaces, data, and fine-tuning for tasks like medical diagnosis or financial analysis. The winners will create the most seamless and effective user experience for a particular need. Oh, and if they don’t consider safety, bias, and responsible use, they’ll all flunk.

Prediction

In reaction to prior maximalist experience trends, offloading of tasks to AI, and reduced investment in the UX/UI practice at large, we’re going to see more bare bones experience deliverables, less investment in user research, and a reliance on graphic designers to perform UX/UI functions. This will bring back an era of “web design” offerings as opposed to the user research, usability experimentation, and user testing that we’ve seen tech invest in over the past decade.

Prediction

More streamers and influencers will get in trouble for pumping and dumping memecoins. Hawk Tuah was just the beginning.

Prediction

Handwriting officially becomes illegible as typing definitively squashes the need for penmanship. Brands tap visual artists to incorporate handwritten elements into packaging and marketing to make their products feel high-quality, personal, and individualistic.

Prediction

Hospitality infighting between hotels and Airbnb will make people turn to cruise ships. The Disney cruise will be on the NYT’s 52 Places to Go for 2026.

Prediction

Sick of reality? Same. That’s why fantasy books and movies are going to reign supreme in 2025. As the real world gets worse, fantasy worlds are ready to deliver a much-needed dose of escapism.

Prediction

We will witness the great flattening of fashion, where we’ll be channeled down a river of “street style baggy y2k casual denim pants” and swallowed by a whirlpool of basic aesthetic. We will dress plain af so our auras can do the real talking. That or we’ll all start dressing like sea witches.

Prediction

In the offseason, the NBA will announce a major change to the league (reformatting the NBA Cup, reducing the number of games, fining players for “load management”) in response to waning TV ratings.

Prediction

Celebs and CEOs will enter their streamer era and partner with people like Kai Cenat and Pokimane in an effort to stay relevant.

Prediction

PR pros are going to evaluate target outlets through an entirely new lens, accounting for coverage that’s more likely to appear in Google’s AI Overviews and the growing influence of newsletter writers. What’s Tier 1 today won’t be as coveted a year from now.

Prediction

An unpredictable administration will lead to truckloads of money being invested into corporate communications and reputation management proactively. Brands will be on high-alert for policy changes and pointed rhetoric that could derail their business (see: Bank of America), and will be investing in having responses at the ready and reputations that can weather turbulence.

Prediction

YouTube Shorts will become the long-term TikTok replacement. While the initial surge of audiences, creators, and brands will likely be to Instagram, creators will invest in platforms that invest in them. YouTube Shorts will be the place to go for content that’s fresh, unique, and audience-first. By the time you’ve seen it on Instagram, the trend will already be over.

Prediction

Grand Theft Auto 6 will get delayed into 2026, and gamers will be sad.

Prediction

Social media will move to less videos and more words in an attempt to be wholesome and encouraging again.

Prediction

Reverse-chronological will have a renaissance. Bluesky brought back the simple joy of giving you posts from people you explicitly asked to see. As the old giants of the social web stock their feeds full of misinformation, propaganda, and AI-generated slop, people are going to crave more self-curation and control. Media diets. RSS feeds. Maybe even discussion forums are all going to make a comeback. Think of it as Web 2.0 Remastered.

Prediction

The Wirkin walked in 2024 so the Sam’s Shanel could run in 2025.

Prediction

The Nintendo Switch 2 will have marginal upgrades and no new games on release, yet will still be the highest selling handheld console of all time.

Prediction

All the AI we cannot see: AI will power long-haul freight. It could revolutionize weather forecasting. It might even make trash pickup less wasteful. And as experts and regulators debate making it mandatory for companies to disclose their AI usage, more businesses who’ve been tinkering in the background will develop and share their narratives to get ahead of it and build trust. And the sooner the better for them.