According to futurist and tech ethicist Sinead Bovell, the social media era that promised connection, validation, and visibility may be quietly dying.
In a striking post titled “The End of the Social Media Era,” shared on her Instagram (@sineadbovell), Bovell argues that social media’s original purpose, connecting real people, is unraveling in the age of artificial intelligence and bots.
“The entire value proposition of the current platforms is that they connect us to real people,” Bovell explained on her podcast, IGQ With Sinead Bovell. “In a world where we don’t know if it’s a person on the other end, that entire value proposition breaks.”
Her message, though simple, strikes at the heart of a growing digital identity crisis.
A Digital Economy Losing Its Humanity
Social media began as a space to signal identity and connection. The social media value proposition is to show friends, lovers, or employers who we are and what we value. Every post, selfie, and story was a message to someone on the other end.
But Bovell says AI-generated users, indistinguishable from humans, are eroding that loop of social signaling.
“If you’re posting for a bunch of large language models,” she said, “the idea of signaling goes away.”
The implications are staggering.
Social media’s multibillion-dollar foundation, built on engagement, influence, and attention, depends on the assumption that human beings are watching. If that assumption disappears, so does the meaning of likes, followers, and even virality itself.
The Platforms May Not Survive
Bovell predicts that platforms like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok could become “the biggest casualties” of this shift because, ironically, they are building the very AI tools that may destroy them.
“Social media may be one of the biggest casualties of AI,” she warned. “It’s akin to news stations trying to stay relevant by posting 60-second TikTok clips.”
Her observation hints at an existential challenge for Silicon Valley: adapt to a world where authentic human connection becomes scarce or risk irrelevance.
A New Kind of Online Life
Bovell doesn’t think humanity will give up on connection altogether. Rather, she suggests we will build new digital spaces better suited for authentic interaction.
“We will do something different on different platforms,” she said, suggesting a shift toward smaller, more personal networks or hybrid spaces where trust becomes the new social currency.
It’s a chilling but clarifying vision: a world where algorithms talk to algorithms, while people quietly migrate toward something more real.
