AI Just Broke Social Media (And There's No Going Back)

I just watched Mia Zelu, a fashion influencer with over 150k+ followers go mega viral at Wimbledon. She posted flawless courtside photos sipping Pimm’s and swapping match predictions in her Instagram captions. And real athletes and verified accounts engaged.

But Mia Zelu is entirely AI generated. Her Wimbledon “selfies” and event recaps? All produced by code. She never set foot in London, never touched the court, never even tasted Pimm’s, yet “her” posts racked up tens of thousands of likes, had celebrities sliding into the DMs, and fooled thousands into believing she was there.

She had higher engagement than 95% of real creators.

Welcome to the new internet. Where fake doesn't just work, it works better.

We're not just entering a new era of social media. We're entering the final era of human-created feeds.

The rise of AI video tools like Veo, Sora, and Runway means anyone can create cinematic content without touching a camera. Just write a prompt, and boom: you've got a stylized short film, a fake influencer, or a viral ad in seconds.

But here's the twist no one's talking about, this isn't about better tools. It's about the death of documentation and the birth of pure simulation.

We're no longer watching real people. We're watching simulations of them.

And people feel it!

Greg Isenberg said it best:

And Balaji recently wrote:

Translation: As AI content floods the internet, human-created content becomes premium.

The feeds of the future will be more addictive, more personalized, and more synthetic. That makes verified humans, trusted creators, and bot-free spaces more valuable than ever.

It's about trust. And in a world of infinite AI, realness is the next frontier.

Here's what's coming:

1) How AI changes the role of the creator
2) How platforms will pretend to fix this (spoiler: they won't)
3) How founders, brands, and builders can dominate by putting identity back at the center

Let's dive into the chaos.

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The traditional social feed was built on one simple premise: documentation.

You posted something that happened, maybe a photo from your night out, a product drop, a behind-the-scenes vlog. The feed was a mirror of reality, however drastically filtered.

Now? The feed is shifting from documentation to generation.

AI is now doing more than editing content anymore, it's generating it. From scratch. At scale. Without humans.

You don't need a camera.
You don't need a face (how many people are pushing faceless YT courses!).
You don't even need a story (just the illusion of one).

And now, the feed doesn't reflect humanity anymore. It simulates it.
(And don’t get me started on comments/replies, which are 50% fake already if not more).

But here's where it gets interesting...

This doesn't kill the creator. But it does fundamentally redefine the role.

Creators are moving from:

In this new model, your value isn't tied to your ability to film, but your ability to compose (the scenes, styles, structures, stories).

The question isn't "what camera did you use?"
It's "how well did you clearly tell a story?"

And that's just the beginning.

Here's what nobody wants to admit:

Every scroll will feel like watching a movie trailer.
Every post optimized for your specific psychological triggers.
Every story calculated to make you forget you have anywhere else to be.

You'll love it. And that's exactly the problem.

The AI feed will be:

But here's the thing: In a world of infinite synthetic perfection, the creator who shows up with messy authenticity, real opinions, and unfiltered identity won't just survive they'll stand out!

Platforms have one job: optimize for engagement. Not ethics. Not authenticity. And definitely not your mental health.

So as AI-generated content floods the internet, here's exactly how they'll pretend to act (and what they'll actually do).

Spoiler alert: It's theater all the way down.

First, they'll slap on some warning stickers.

We're already seeing it:

This is compliance masquerading as protection.

It's the equivalent of "smoking causes cancer" warnings on cigarettes. The algorithm doesn't care if your video was made by a person or a prompt. If it drives watch time, it still gets pushed.

Next comes limited moderation, especially around monetization.

YouTube explicitly states that faceless, fully AI-generated content may not be eligible for monetization. But that's not a ban, it's a business rule.

Translation: The most egregious AI spam might get demonetized. But high-performing synthetic content? The system still loves it.

Because at the end of the day, AI content that performs... still performs.

Eventually, we land in a hybrid nightmare:

Here's what happens when feeds are flooded with deepfakes, AI thirst traps, and personality simulacra: People start craving clarity.

Community. Trust. Reality.

That's when new platforms emerge.

Greg Isenberg nailed this: "We're going to see a massive market for 'verified human' social networks. Platforms that prove everyone is real, eliminate algorithmic manipulation, and focus on actual social connections."

I'm already building toward this future with Connyct, a network where:

The reality: Platforms will boost whatever performs while pretending to care about truth. The real shift comes when users demand something different.

The future feed is synthetic.
The platforms are chasing performance.
The content supply curve just went vertical.

So how do you win in that world?

By doing the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing. When everyone floods the feed with AI noise, you lead with human signal.

In an infinite-content world, your competitive edge isn't production… it's personhood.

This means:

I've been writing about this for years: People follow people, not logos.

Nobody cares about a bland corporate logo with no identity. Why? Because there's no there there. The content was safe. Created in committees. Watered down. Void of soul.

The rise of AI is creating the same fork in the road.

Don't fire your content team and plug in a bot.
Don't chase efficiency so hard you erase what makes you matter.

Instead: Use AI to amplify your voice, not replace it.

That means:

I'll still watch Marques Brownlee review a toilet… because it's Marques. His taste, tone, and trust are the product.

AI might replace content (or parts of the process). It won't replace connection.

The highest-leverage creators and brands in the next 3 years will be human-first, AI-assisted.

As AI eats the open web, trust becomes the new distribution layer.

Expect a wave of identity-first platforms that prioritize:

These won't just be safer. They'll be more valuable. Because in a synthetic world, realness is scarce.

You can either learn to swim in it, or build a lighthouse that people actually want to follow.

Here's your playbook:

The choice is yours. But choose fast, because while you're deciding, someone else is already building the future of trust.

In a world where anyone can generate anything, the scarcest asset isn't content.

It's credibility.

Will you be signal or noise?

Need a hand? Hit the button below to book a strategy call.

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