Someone recently described our current moment as an “unrecognized recession,” and I think that’s about right. 

Whether we actually meet the criteria is a matter I’ll leave to the economists, but the lack of a clear narrative has seeped into everything:

Economic growth is happening, it’s just concentrated in certain industries. AI is exploding our productivity and efficiency, and it’s going to take all our jobs. We’re more connected than ever, and have never been more isolated.

So depending on who you ask, things are either fine or they’re really not. Which is a real opening for marketers at impact-driven orgs who read the room. 

When nobody can agree on what’s what, the leaders people come to trust will be the ones helping them make sense of it — or at least, making them feel less alone while they figure it out.

So today: 

Onward…

In this internet of lurkers, it can be hard to tell what will really resonate with people right now. 

But Harvard Business Review just released some fresh insight: a survey of how Americans are using AI. As Jasmine Bina insightfully points out, it reveals a lot about our emotional needs. And in my view, this lends clues as to what we’ll likely respond to on social media, too. 

Here are 3 themes that stood out from HBR’s report, and considerations for how your org can strategically adjust your content to meet people there.

1. Connection & Companionship 

The #1 thing people are using AI for is “therapy/companionship,” while #8 is “work buddy.” This tracks; we are lonely and more disconnected than ever. We crave belonging, someone to process life with.

So how can your brand be the presence that helps us feel less alone? How can you be the “work friend” your audience needs? That might look like being vulnerable and relatable, or making inside jokes to add levity. Above all: empathize, and give permission to make people feel seen.

2. Fun & Escapism

Oh, how we are craving FUN! No wonder the #3 top use case for AI is “fun and nonsense,” followed by #4, “fan fiction and storytelling.” 

So how can you find the lighter angles of your subject matter? How can you inject a little brand-safe humor or levity? Embrace episodic, serialized content that gives people a journey to follow, a protagonist to cheer for. Think: “Day 3 of doing X” where each post reveals how it’s going, what you learned, what you’re doing differently.

3. Answers to life’s big questions

Apparently, a whole lot of people are using AI for “astrology/tarot” (#9). The top 100 also includes “career advice” at #24, “deep and meaningful conversations at #61, “exploring religion” at #62 and “finding purpose” at #85. 

None of this is surprising given the state of the world. People are feeling lost, confused, and desperate for meaning as a way out of this malaise. We need trustworthy voices to help us make sense of the world and more specifically, the spaces we’re in. 

Your brand has an opportunity to be that voice. To illuminate something deeper than surface level that we haven’t seen before. To show us a positive vision of the future, and to give us a reason to hope. 

The conversation around AI transparency is heating up. Under pressure from European regulators, platforms like Claude, Meta, and Canva will all start or step up the attaching of labels, watermarks, or metadata to AI-generated content. 

Meanwhile, everyone is obsessing over tells and tics, brutally calling each other out — sometimes wrongfully so — and deliberately adding typos to make AI copy seem ‘authentic.’  

But to my finely tuned AI radar, it’s not really about the ‘tells.’

Many humans, too, know grammar. (You won’t see me deliberately adding typos, ever.) We were the original em dashers. And some of Shakespeare’s most quoted lines are constructed around contrast framing (it’s not x, it’s y).

Which is why there’s still no magic set of prompts that can “train AI to sound like a person.” The real tells are a bit more ineffable. 

But I know I’m reading AI when I encounter: 

Of course, no matter what role AI plays in your creative process, clearing writing of AI tells (or tacking on “human” tells, like typos) won’t compensate for a lack of substance or POV. 

So let’s all worry less about “sounding human” than we do about creating content based on fresh, original thinking — the kind that humans will actually love to read. That’s always been the game, and I don’t think that part will ever change. 

Being the bearer of bad news can backfire — especially at a time when our cultural mood is more “good vibes only.” But in this post, Mya Shell pulls it off. Here’s what we can learn from it. 

How it hooks you: The opening lines get right to the point — a move LinkedIn has emphasized recently — while still creating curiosity. And the blame shifts onto LinkedIn quickly enough that what might have felt like finger-wagging becomes more like an inside scoop. It also rehooks you halfway down: “the results surprised me.”

How it keeps your attention: The unexpected claim that “horizontal videos are outperforming verticals,” gets backed up with real data. That gives this post perspective; it’s not presenting commodity info but firsthand experience. And tagging 5+ relevant accounts undoubtedly gave it a visibility boost. 

What makes it engaging: Empathy for marketers and thought leaders who’ve been struggling to make LinkedIn video work creates a sense of belonging — of figuring this out together. No wonder so many people replied to Mya’s question asking them to share their thoughts and experiences with LinkedIn video.

What you can apply: “You’ve been doing it wrong”-style advice goes down smoother with a tone of humility and figuring it out together. So don’t preach from the pulpit, get down in the pews. Show that you’re just learning this, too.

So what is your organization tracking right now? What theories are you testing? And why does it matter to your audience? Bring us along for the ride. 

Whether you’re an individual thought leader or a more buttoned-up brand, show us the observations, the journey, that only a human could make.

That’s how you cut through the noise right now.

That’s how you create connection.

And that’s step one to being a brand people actually trust in these upside-down times. 

Dreaming of a less isolated world,