Do you think social media is addictive? Is it intentionally designed to keep people hooked, not just a distraction? If so, who should be responsible for its design?
At the same time, as political tensions spill over into workplaces, neighborhoods, and local economies, have you ever wondered whether businesses should speak up or stay silent when public policy begins to impact real people and real markets?
Recent events are at the crossroads of these debates. From landmark lawsuits questioning whether platforms can be held accountable for addictive designs to companies cautiously breaking their silence amid political unrest, accountability remains the key, and it begins when technology, business, and society collide.
Social media will be in the spotlight in upcoming trials
One of the most important legal tests facing social platforms is currently underway. This test focuses more on design than content. A California lawsuit involving a young woman identified as KGM will be the first of thousands of consolidated lawsuits alleging that the major social media companies knowingly manufactured addictive products for children.
This incident is attracting attention as an indication of the future of social media. The wide-ranging lawsuit includes claims against multiple platforms, but both Snap and TikTok settled with the plaintiffs ahead of trial. As a result, YouTube and Meta, both owned by Google, will appear before a jury, with first arguments expected to be held soon.
At the heart of the lawsuit is an allegation that the platform intentionally designs features like infinite scrolling, autoplay, algorithmic recommendations, and engagement feedback loops to maximize dwell time, especially among minors. Plaintiffs allege that these choices led to compulsive use and severe mental health harm, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. It is said that companies understood the harm but were unable to meaningfully mitigate it.
The defense fought back on several fronts. Platforms dispute the existence of a legally recognized concept of “social media addiction,” dispute whether a causal link can be established, and argue that First Amendment and Section 230 protections shield them from legal liability. Their position is that the problem lies with user-generated content, not product design, and courts are now being asked to scrutinize this distinction.
That distinction could determine the far-reaching impact of the case. A judge has already ruled that the claims can proceed based on product design theory, and jurors can consider internal documents and expert testimony that suggest the company is prioritizing its efforts over the safety of children. Recently released documents, particularly from Meta, show executives and researchers discussing teen retention as a strategic priority despite internal warnings, prompting increased scrutiny.
Even if the remaining defendants ultimately prevail, lawmakers and regulators have already begun moving ahead of the courts, with dozens of states passing new child safety laws and other countries experimenting with age-based restrictions. Regardless of this ruling, the legal environment surrounding young people, platforms, and accountability is becoming tougher.
What this means for real estate professionals
The case challenges whether engagement-driven design can be treated as a product decision with legal implications. As scrutiny shifts from content to mechanics, platforms may face pressure to change how they reach, recommend, and see visibility. That change could have ripple effects on how audiences are built across organic distribution, paid media, and social channels.
TikTok’s ownership change will force users to test alternatives
In the early days of TikTok’s new U.S. ownership, there was enough friction to drive some users to alternatives. Algorithm resets, upload issues, and privacy policy expansions coincide with short-term spikes in downloads for smaller platforms like UpScrolled, which briefly spiked after an ownership change.
These moments tend to generate exploration rather than permanent migration. When platforms become unstable, users experiment with new spaces, but over time most behaviors are fixed by habit, scale, and discovery. So far, TikTok’s challenges appear to be creating hesitation rather than disruption, but the uncertainty is causing some marketers to pause and reevaluate.
What this means for real estate professionals
Platform instability is a reminder to maintain diversity. While TikTok remains in the spotlight, moments like this highlight the risks of over-reliance on a single algorithm at a time when ownership and incentives are shifting.
Threads growth reaches tipping point as advertising globalizes
The meta is moving the thread to the next phase. Ads are now rolling out globally, officially positioning Threads as a full participant in Meta’s monetization stack rather than a side experiment.
The timing is no coincidence. New data from Samelweb shows that Threads is slightly ahead of X in daily mobile usage, with approximately 141.5 million daily active users on iOS and Android, compared to X’s estimated 125 million. X still dominates on the web, but on mobile, where consumption is habitual in the feed, threads are visible to users more and more.
This change appears to be the result of steady structural change rather than a short-term reaction. Threads has benefited from aggressive cross-promotion across Instagram and Facebook, a creator-first roadmap, and a consistent rollout of features designed to support regular usage. Over time, these choices transformed the thread from curiosity to routine.
Meta is strengthening its trajectory operationally. Threads accounts can now be managed directly within Meta Business Suite and associated with Instagram accounts with matching access, permissions, cross-posting, and ad serving. Ads are treated as a default extension of an existing meta campaign, rather than as a standalone purchase. The message is subtle but clear. Threads are no longer optional infrastructure.
What this means for real estate professionals
The threads are settling into a familiar pattern. As daily usage increases and advertising becomes the norm, platforms have become more about presence than experimentation. For agents who have already invested time and money into Instagram, Threads is becoming part of the same system. And it’s another reminder that the power of Meta lies in how tightly its platform works together.
Corporate silence begins to break after Minnesota ICE shooting
After weeks of silence, U.S. business leaders are beginning to publicly react to Minnesota’s heavy-handed immigration crackdown in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting. More than 60 Minnesota-based CEOs, including leaders from Target, 3M and General Mills, signed a statement signaling a shift in companies’ risk tolerance and calling for detente. Even Beyond Meat called for a more moderate statement on the thread.
While the statement stopped short of directly criticizing the Trump administration or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it acknowledged the growing harm to communities and economic disruption. Lawmakers said executives had privately warned that the enforcement was hurting sales and employee stability, but had so far been reluctant to speak publicly. Companies are working behind the scenes through the Business Roundtable to seek de-escalation.
The difference between small and medium-sized enterprises is striking. As protests grew and public sentiment shifted, many local carriers acted more quickly and publicly opposed ICE’s actions. This gap highlights how proximity to customers, employees, and neighborhoods often forces companies to act earlier than boardroom politics allow.
What this means for real estate professionals
Political risks are becoming increasingly localized. Crackdowns, protests, and corporate responses can impact housing demand, workforce availability, and investor confidence at the city level. For agents and brokers, these moments often first appear as buyer hesitation, leasing stalls, and employer decisions to relocate long before they are recorded in market data.
TL;DR (too long to read)
With TikTok and Snap settling and Meta and YouTube heading to court, the lawsuits are testing whether platforms can be held accountable for their addictive product designs. TikTok turmoil: Early friction under new U.S. ownership led some users to try alternatives, but signs point to hesitation and experimentation rather than mass exodus. As mobile usage increases, Meta is rolling out advertising on Threads globally, marking the platform’s transition from experimentation to core infrastructure. Major companies are speaking out cautiously in the wake of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, emphasizing how political risk is increasingly influencing local economies and corporate decisions.
Courts are beginning to examine where product design ends and liability begins. While companies weigh the costs of silence against the costs of speaking out, users, consumers, and communities are responding in ways that ripple beyond a single platform or headline.
For professionals working with these systems, it is important to recognize the changes rather than choosing sides. Accountability is no longer an abstraction. It’s simultaneously appearing in courtrooms, boardrooms, and neighborhoods, reshaping how platforms operate and how companies interact with the public reality around them.
Every week on Trending, digital marketer Jesse Healy takes a deep dive into what’s trending on social media and why it matters to real estate professionals. From viral trends to platform shifts, she analyzes everything to help you understand what’s worth your time and what’s not.
Jessi Healey is a freelance writer and social media manager specializing in real estate. Find her on Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, or Bluesky.
