5 Consumer Trends That Will Define 2026: What's Next in Social Media & More | GaryVee

The speaker outlines five key trends defining 2026, starting with the "individual empire," where individuals can build businesses around their passions, leveraging platforms for monetization. This is supported by the rise of consumer product opportunities for creators, with a shift towards decentralized platforms ensuring creators retain full revenue.

The second trend is "Gen Alpha unplugging," indicating a broader societal move away from constant digital immersion towards real-world experiences like festivals and outdoor activities. The third trend, "underpriced attention" and the monetization of random content, highlights how AI algorithms can connect individuals with niche interests, allowing for unexpected financial opportunities from posting about curiosities, not just passions.

The fourth trend discusses the "underpriced opportunities" in the continent of Africa, emphasizing its burgeoning youth population and the massive cultural and economic impact it will have globally. Finally, the rise of "alternative sports," from esports to pickleball and beyond, is driven by the changing media landscape and presents significant growth potential, with the possibility of new sports being invented by future generations.

• Individual Empires: Individuals can build businesses around their passions and monetize them, with a trend towards decentralized platforms for maximizing revenue.
• Gen Alpha Unplugging: A growing movement of disconnecting from digital devices for real-world experiences like festivals and outdoor activities.
• Monetization of Random Content: AI algorithms enable content about any interest, even random curiosities, to reach relevant audiences and create financial opportunities.
• Africa's Rise: The continent is poised for significant economic and cultural influence in the next few decades due to its young population and growing talent pool.
• Alternative Sports: A surge in popularity of sports like esports, pickleball, and others, driven by evolving media consumption and offering new avenues for engagement and business.

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The Individual Empire [00:03]

• Individuals are at a tipping point where cashing in on their passions is a viable business.
• The concept has evolved from just making money from brand deals to building a full "empire."
• Creators can monetize their interests, whether it's about a niche topic like ALF or collecting Smurfs.
• A tech stack for creators and entrepreneurial creators, based on writing about building empires, is available.
• The shift is towards individuals not just making money from brand deals, but also from consumer product opportunities.
• Examples include brands launched by individuals, like Prime, and those where founders became the individual face of their brand.
• The monetization is moving towards decentralized platforms where creators own all the money, maximizing revenue and not sharing it with platforms.

"In 2008, I said you, all of you, and this is still real, can make fifty to a hundred thousand dollars talking about ALF and the Smurfs and all that. Ask yourself, what do I want to do every day for the rest of my life? Do that. I promise you can monetize that."

This section emphasizes the evolution of personal branding into a full-fledged business, where individuals can build empires by monetizing their unique interests and leveraging decentralized platforms for greater financial control.

Gen Alpha Unplugging [02:54]

• Younger generations, specifically Gen Alpha and Gen Z, are starting to understand the limitations of constant digital immersion.
• While digital tools are useful for daily tasks, they are not the "end all be all" and people don't want to live 24/7 connected.
• A pendulum swing is occurring, moving away from the pervasive digital presence seen today.
• This trend suggests a future where businesses catering to real-world experiences will emerge.
• Examples of these experiences include experiential music festivals, going outdoors, attending events, and simply putting phones away.
• This trend is already impacting younger demographics and will become more pronounced.

"This and so the unplugging is just the pendulum swings... I think within the next decade and I think starting in 2026 you'll see more businesses like this."

The core idea here is a growing desire among younger generations to disconnect from constant digital engagement and embrace real-world experiences, signaling a shift in consumer behavior and business opportunities.

Underpriced Attention & Monetizing Random Content [04:11]

• A significant trend for 2026 is the monetization of "random content" due to changes in how attention is valued and captured.
• The marketing landscape has shifted from the "social graph" to the "interest graph."
• AI algorithms now allow content about any topic, even if it's not a creator's primary passion, to reach highly interested audiences.
• This means creators can post about their passions, but also their curiosities and random interests.
• Content about a creator's journey of learning something new, like riding a bike or playing checkers, can attract audiences.
• These seemingly random pieces of content can lead to unexpected financial and happiness opportunities.
• An example is a funny post about sunflower seeds leading to a sponsorship deal with a sunflower seed brand.
• The key is to post authentically about things genuinely interesting or curious to the creator.
• A strong bio with contact information on platforms like TikTok and Instagram is crucial for capturing leads from viral random content.
• Random content can act as a "gateway drug" to a creator's core services or business.

"The rise of curiosity content. You're curious, you're exploring, you're on training wheels, but you're learning."

This trend challenges traditional content creation by suggesting that genuine curiosity and randomness, amplified by AI, can unlock significant opportunities and lead to unexpected monetization streams.

Underpriced Opportunities: The Rise of Africa [09:56]

• The continent of Africa represents a significant, yet currently underpriced, opportunity for the next 20-40 years.
• Africa has a staggering proportion of the world's youth, which will shape its future population demographics.
• Young talent from African countries possesses incredible raw firepower, intellect, and hunger.
• This mirrors the rise of Asia (including India, Japan, and China) and the Middle East in previous decades.
• Opportunities exist both in doing business within Africa and in understanding the immense talent pool.
• Culturally, Africa is already making a significant global impact, similar to how Latin music impacted the US and how anime impacted the West.
• African music is already influencing top hits, and African influencers, culture, food, and sports are gaining global recognition.
• The impact is bidirectional, with the West also influencing Eastern cultures.
• For individuals, this means exploring opportunities through relatives on the continent or simply by recognizing the vast potential for entrepreneurship and business growth.
• The continent's sheer size and diversity are often underestimated, with each country presenting unique geopolitical landscapes and entrepreneurial chances.

"It is very clear that Africa as a continent is absolutely the big winner of the next 20, 30, 40 years."

This section highlights Africa as a major growth market with immense potential driven by its youthful population, burgeoning talent, and growing global cultural influence, presenting significant business and engagement opportunities.

Alternative Sports [12:50]

• Alternative sports are experiencing massive growth, driven by changes in the media landscape.
• Examples include esports, pickleball, whiffle ball, padel, 3-on-3 basketball, and slam ball.
• The rise of UFC and esports over the past 30 years demonstrates the potential of these newer sports.
• The success of exhibition fights between popular figures, like Tyson and Jake Paul, is directly linked to the existence and influence of social media and platforms like YouTube.
• This trend is moving from YouTube to platforms like Netflix and will continue to grow.
• The "device that's changed the world" has created room for more sports beyond traditional ones like basketball, football, baseball, and soccer.
• The speaker believes a new generation might be inspired to invent the next major sport.

"The rise of alternative sports because of how the media landscape has changed is firm. All of you need to look into it and it changes absolutely everything."

The emergence and growth of alternative sports are strongly tied to the evolution of media consumption and distribution, presenting substantial opportunities for engagement, investment, and even the invention of new athletic endeavors.