Throughout 2026, Sprout Social data shed light on a consumer contradiction: audiences began to reject AI-generated posts and want more original content, but they also feel it’s important for brands to keep up with culture and trends on social media.
A Q3 2026 Sprout Social Pulse Survey found that 33% of consumers think the originality of a brand’s content is what makes them stand out as a favorite on social media—second only to the quality of a brand’s product or service. But the same survey also found that 84% think it’s important for a brand’s social media to keep up with online culture.
Following trends and being original aren’t exactly complementary ideas. How can brands appeal to both of these expectations, and which matters more?
Original content offers an opportunity to break through crowded feeds and build long-term audience engagement. Luckily, there’s a way to produce original content while still paying homage to trends where you can offer a unique POV.
What (really) is original content?
At its core, original social content is an umbrella term for social posts that don’t just repeat viral memes, visual aesthetics or the same recycled take on a trend. While it might become a cultural touchpoint, original content can exist without the context ofonline culture. Audiences don’t need prior knowledge of internet lore to get it.
The best original content is highly entertaining, educational orboth. And it comes from a perspective that only your brand can deliver. It connects people to your brand throughhuman-driven storytelling that AI content tools can’t replicate. Put simply, it makes you feel something.
It’s also oftenepisodic, weaving together a brand universe with a cohesive narrative and familiar faces. Like the Croc’s microdrama “Charmed to meet you.” It could even be inspired by a true story, like Actually Away, Away’s series inspired by a meet cute in Grand Central Station. Or, it could be heartwarming and earnest, like immi Ramen’s “Ramen on the Street” interview series.
Why original content on social matters more now
Brands are struggling to reach audiences and maintain engagement as social media saturation reaches its peak and AI fatigue sets in. Algorithms don’t serve up content like they used to, and a large follower count no longer guarantees that people will see your content. Discoverability requires a different formula that’s rooted in topical alignment to your audience’s interests.
Social teams aren’t creating content for the entire internet anymore. They need to reachniche communities within their audience segment, and doing so requires cultural understanding and scroll-stopping originality.
Originality rises above AI slop
Are all AI content creation tools bad? No. For example, AI tools can speed up manual hours of video and photo editing that significantly enhances the quality of content. Yet, they don’t have the human taste required to build something original—or compelling—from scratch.
Feeds have become inundated with AI-generated “thought leadership” posts, images and comments sections. At this point, the number of bots online have surpassed the number of human activity, and The Dead Internet theory is pushingaudiences to tune out.
Sprout data from numerous surveys reinforced this idea. A Q1 2026 Pulse Survey found that 56% of consumers reported seeing AI slop on social media often or very often, with at least 83% seeing it at least sometimes. This influx of AI content is making audiences more selective about what they consume, with 50% of Gen Z and 44% of Millennials unfollowing, muting or blocking a brand or creator because they felt their content was AI slop.
What the data really tells us, though, is where the opportunity lives for brands. It’s the reason the word ‘lore’ was crowned the 2026 word of the year over ‘slop’ in Sprout’s 2026 Social Media Dictionary. People want depth, authenticity and uniqueness in their community spaces online.
There’s more room for brands to double-down on human-led, original content to actually capture fleeting attention, and refocus their AI investment elsewhere. For example, marketers say real-time audience insights would be the most impactful resource for their strategy. That’s where the real potential of AI lies—in analysis to garner timely insights.
Original content plays to audience and algorithm preferences
Resonant original content is striking. It holds your attention, inspires you, delights you, changes how you think. When you find it in your feed, you’re more likely to hit the share button, blasting the post across your DMs.
Shares are an important signal for marketers to determine how something was received. The 2026 version of word-of-mouth, shares are an endorsement that what you’ve created is worth talking about. Shares also serve the dual purpose of reshaping how users encounter content on social, especially on legacy networks.
As Lia Haberman articulated in this Instagram playbook, “DMs—not the Feed, not Stories, not Broadcast Channels—are the primary way people share on Instagram. We may never get back to a chronological feed but users have hacked the system to connect with their favorite people through DMs.”
Original content helps you tap into this discoverability engine by touching people’s hearts and minds, theattention economy’s true currency.
It upholds brand safety
The biggest moments on social also come with the biggest risks of copyright infringement. Brands that post about a pop icon marrying an NFL star, an athlete winning gold or the best big game ad are forced to use vague euphemisms or subtle references (see what we did there?)—unless they’re willing to face litigation. It’s hard to know what’s in the public domain, especially when you have to act fast to jump on a trend. Not to mention navigating the music licensing for all the viral audio.
Even trends and memes that aren’t protected by copyright can still pose ethical questions when it comes to creators’ intellectual property.
Original content bypasses many of these risks. The people and ideas featured are already affiliated with your brand and help you steward an existing brand image and story. This is the essence of the brand lore today’s audiences seek.
How to break away from chasing every trend and build an original content muscle
Whether your social strategy is currently defined by trending moments, or you publish original content that hasn’t found an audience yet, use these actionable steps to reimagine how you work.
React to trends sparingly—when your brand has authority on a topic
The challenge with trendingjacking is that for many brands, when you jump head first into the conversation at a moment’s notice—if you cover up the logo—you can’t tell which brand created what. That’s why we advocate for telling distinct stories instead, and jumping on trends sparingly when there’s a real cultural moment your brand has the authority to speak on. Like this spotlight we shared on Starbucks, who entered the chat during the viral moment about bringing iced coffee to interviews.
Find the stories only your brand can tell
Putting trending moments aside entirely, there are infinite possibilities for your brand to create content by tapping into stories only your C-suite, co-workers and customers can tell. One where every post builds your brand ecosystem and lore.
Take the US National Parks Service accounts as an example of originality at its finest. The organization shares the unique history of some of the US’s most precious landmarks in a fun and relatable way, connecting moments back to tales of the wildlife, rangers or park visitors.
This approach to originality holds true across industries, like whenNorthwestern Medicine spotlights their patients and physicians, or when the Prada team launches a holiday campaign celebrating craft and the process that comes with it.
Carve out time and space for finding and sharing inspiration
Truly original content can’t be created by replicating your competitors’ social strategy—or copying anything another brand does on social for that matter. Marketers should look beyond their algorithms for inspiration. Rachel Karten, author behind the Link in Bio newsletter,asked her audience where they turn to get creative juices flowing. Their answers ranged from grocery stores to stand-up comedy clubs to listening to jazz.
At Sprout, our team has gone to museums, taken architecture tours and participated in sound baths together. These excursions planted fresh ideas and opened up new ways of thinking about our work.
Social teams from all industries need time and space to consume different kinds of content, and talk about it with their peers in a way that pertains to their work. Kick-off meetings by sharing your current media diet. Host brainstorms inspired by your favorite movie. Start a team book club. Whatever it is, give your team a chance to get creative.
Constantly review audience insights
Feeds are siloed. Everyone’s algorithm is custom-built brick-by-brick based on the posts and videos they linger on. You can’t rely on general social media audience preferences or scrolling your feeds to understand what your audience wants to see.
That’s why you should regularly consultsocial intelligence insights to inform what you’re creating. What is your audience searching for on social? What are they talking about? What are they engaging with? What conversations do they associate with your brand?
For example, insurance isn’t a category most would consider inherently ‘fun’ or easy to speak to on social. But insurance brand Lemonade decided to scrap the traditional playbook. They used audience insights to gain understanding about their customers wants, needs and pain points. Then, they used this social intelligence to build an entirely new content strategy centered around audience interests, like a targeted campaign inviting people to cover up their regrettable tattoos.
Beyond social, reread case studies, listen to sales calls and speak with customers at events to take a completelycustomer-centric approach to your content.
Create content with intentionality and originality
Trends tempt brands with the promise of quick relevance, but deliver fleeting attention. In an era of shrinking reach and engagement, rising AI noise and DM-centered sharing, you should prioritize human-led storytelling over volume and reactivity.
Original content is the thread that ties your brand’s past, present and future together. Don’t ignore online culture. Instead, contribute to it in a way that only your brand can.
For more on what audiences want from brands across networks, read our latest the state of social media article.
