Social Media and Politics 2025 Year in Review! Social Media and Politics, with Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten
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Dec 21, 2025 
Dr. Anamaria Dutceac Segesten, Vice Dean of Research at Lund University, dives into the crossroads of social media, politics, and AI. She reviews 2025's trends, from regulatory changes in the EU regarding political ads to the rise of a synthetic public sphere driven by AI. They discuss platforms opting out of political discourse and the implications for democracy. Anamaria highlights the challenges and opportunities of transparency in online advertising and warns of the consequences of marginalized human voices in the digital arena.
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Podcast 'Unwrapped' Reveals Loyal Listeners
- Michael shares Spotify creator 'unwrapped' stats showing loyal listeners and surprising top-artist crossovers.
- He notes fans listen longer than 87% of other shows and that two Spotify comments outranked 78% of podcasts.
Platforms Retreat From Political Storytelling
- Platform year-in-review reports are shrinking and often silent on politics, signaling platforms' retreat from public political storytelling.
- Google, YouTube, TikTok and others focused on culture (Pope, K-pop, cricket, music) rather than sustained political topics in 2025.
Handmade Trends Signal Digital Backlash
- Pinterest Predicts highlights non-political cultural trends like Neo-Deco, pen pals and craft revival as markers of a digital backlash.
- These tactile, handmade signals suggest a pendulum away from AI‑saturated digital culture.