Content Trends 2024: The Epic of Extremes Intensifies

Editor’s Note: This is part a series about the state of content based on highlights from Content Science’s annual webinar.

If I had to give the start of 2024 a Star Wars crawler, it would be this:

Content 2024: The Epic of Extremes

Volatility reigns! Since January last year, trends such as digital disruption by AI, economic uncertainty, the rise of Gen Z, W3 vs Metaverse, and political extremism are intensifying the best and worst of content times.

This volatile period brings both unprecedented pitfalls and nearly limitless potential to the Content Curious. Will they rise to the challenge?

How are these trends intensifying content extremes? This article summarizes exactly that, along with some key implications so you, the content curious, can prevail.

Updates on 6 Trends with Big Impact on Content

The following trends are causing rapid change, tension, and conflict.

1. Digital Disruption

Every organization is having to change how they work to embrace digital. This trend was already happening before the pandemic, then accelerated with the rise and continuation of the pandemic. (We’ve discussed this trend here and here and here.)  Now, it’s in overdrive thanks to widespread access to artificial intelligence. Companies need to address end-to-end digital customer experiences and remote or hybrid work with employees and partners. Every organization needs to communicate more effectively through digital channels.

2. Web3 vs Metaverse

In many ways, Web3 and Metaverse are competing visions of the future of the web. Web3 addresses control and access, touting a highly decentralized approach. Web3 also has become inextricably linked to distributed technologies like blockchain and, consequently, controversial cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency, and by extension Web3, took a major hit with the failure of cryptoexchange FTX and the massive fraud exposed behind it.

The metaverse, on the other hand, focuses on the experience of the web and beyond. Metaverse is associated with augmented reality and virtual reality, reminding me of an upgrade of Second Life. In theory, Web3 and Metaverse could move along their merry ways and coexist. In reality, there’s a lot of conflict, as we explained in our 2023 trends.

As another example, the metaverse brings up questions of ownership. Facebook renamed itself Meta and has diverted many of its resources into not technically owning the metaverse but dominating it. The metaverse also brings up questions of access. While the Consumer Electronics Show featured even more AR/VR headsets and devices, mainstream adoption is elusive. Sales in 2023 were slow, and the price point for headsets and devices remains high.

In 2024, what we’ll face isn’t the realization of either Web3 or the Metaverse but the continued tension and conflict over what they could and should be.

3. AI Boom

Related to the first two trends, artificial intelligence, including generative AI, is booming. More people are more ready than ever to embrace it. For instance, generative AI and machine learning have been used in content contexts for at least a decade, in my experience. But when OpenAI launched the generative AI app ChatGPT at the end of 2022, 1 million users signed up in five days.

We’re tracking developments in AI, including the potential and the pitfalls, in these articles and roundups. And we’ll continue to do so this year.

• Artificial Intelligence Fact Sheet
• Artificial Intelligence Training and Intellectual Property Lawsuits
• Checklist to Maximize Value from a Text Generative AI
• How Useful is Generative AI for Content Professionals?
• Purpose, Prompts, and Polish: How to Get the Most Out of a Text Generative AI
• Rise of the Machines: How Machine Learning Can Transform Your Content Delivery + Increase Content Effectiveness

4. Gen Z

The rise of Gen Z continues this year. Gen Z is growing up, which means they’re entering the workforce and evolving as consumers. They’re digital natives. They’re the most diverse generation. They want brands that align with their values. Many are or aspire to be influencers. As their share of voice and share of the market continues to grow, organizations will need to factor Gen Z even more into their products, services, experiences, and communications.

5. Political Extremism

It’s an election year in the U.S. at a time of political extremism fueled by conspiracy theories. The far-right activity will likely continue to drive extreme actions such as mass shootings, fabricating evidence to support claims of election fraud, storming capitols, repeals of abortion rights, not taking vaccines or wearing masks, bots spreading conspiracy theories and hate, and intensification of hacktivism. In fact, World Economic Forum has identified the mis/disinformation driven by such extremism as the top risk in 2024. 

Responses from governments around the world in the form of more legislation and enforcement of it are likely this year. We’ve tracked highlights related to misinformation and disinformation in these roundups:

• Credibility + Trust Fact Sheet
• Disinformation Roundup: Social Media Shopping Scams, Their Frequency, and What’s Being Done to Combat Them
• Misinformation Roundup: AI-Driven Misinformation, Government Strategies, Social Media Challenges, and Using AI to Fight Back

6. Economic Uncertainty

In the U.S., last year started with a fear of recession that never quite panned out. But trends 1-3 above are still driving tremendous economic doubt. World Economic Forum reports that “2024 prospects remain subdued and fraught with uncertainty.” Companies in the tech sector and beyond are shifting priorities, and that shift has continued to drive layoffs. The tech sector alone had a 200% increase in layoffs last year, and layoffs at Google, Microsoft, Snap, UPS, Citigroup and more have started this year.

Now that we have a rundown of key trends at work, let’s turn to some of the content extremes emerging or continuing in 2024.

5 Resulting Content Extremes

As we head into the year, we’re seeing the extremes of 2023 get even more so. I share 5 in the table below, along with sample stats related to each.

We Have This...	But Also This...
Useful AI + Ease of Content Creation	Misinformation + Low Quality
Use of AI by content teams increased 22%	20% of videos suggested by TikTok search contain mis/disinformation
High Content Consumption	Channel + Search Instability
People around the world spend 7 hours / day online 53% of all web traffic is mobile	Twitter / X lost 72% of its value in 2023 due to lost advertisers and users Google is devising radical changes to search to protect its core business from AI rivals
Content Proving Value	High Pressure for More Value + Scale
Extremely successful content teams report they regularly measure effectiveness and ROI 52% of content teams have a leader at the director level or above	Layoffs in the technology sector alone spiked 200% in 2023 46% of organizations are at levels 1 or 2 out of 5 for content operations maturity
Corporate Responsibility + DEI	Causewashing + Dark Patterns
73% of employees say diversity is important 73% of Gen Z shoppers are willing to pay more for sustainable products	TransUnion’s multimillion dollar lawsuits for dark patterns continued The FTC and CCPA issued dark pattern fines exceeding $250 million against Amazon, Epic Games, and others
High Customer / User Expectations	Antitrust, Privacy + IP Abuses, + Fraud
92% of businesses are using AI to improve content personalization 66% of companies see themselves as competing on customer experience	100+ intellectual property lawsuits against AI are underway 53% of buyers believe companies treat customer service as an afterthought

Sources: 50 Crucial Content Facts, CSR Fact Sheets, Federal Trade Commission, What Makes Content Operations Successful?, New York Times

Again, those stats are only a sample. As you know, at Content Science we like facts and evidence. So you can find plenty more data in the sources noted.

So, there are tremendous opportunities and obstacles with the state of content in 2024. Yet when I think about the question posed by our Star Wars crawler, “Will the Content Curious rise to the challenge?” I am optimistic. We have learned more than ever about what makes content effective, what makes content operations successful, what content principles can help, and how to become more resilient. And that’s only scratching the surface. With such insights and tools and the right mindset, content professionals can thrive this year.