2025: The year of trends that defined how we ate, dressed, spoke and scrolled

If the algorithm knows you well, your 2025 screen time probably looks like this: matcha in sunlit corners, a mysterious plushie glaring from your explore tab, AI cats performing villain monologues, and reels of partners lovingly (or ironically) calling each other “pookie.”

In the past, trends lived online. In 2025, they’re shaping how we live — what we drink, how we decorate, how we express affection, and even how we imagine ourselves across eras.

We break down the biggest social media currents of 2025, clustered by Tech, Pop Culture, Creator Behaviour, and Brand Trends.

TECH & AI TRENDS

What began as a Google Gemini-powered gimmick is now a global visual language. People are turning selfies, pet pics, and celebrity photos into collectible-style 3D figurines. Feeds are packed with Nano Banana avatars — hyper-detailed, hyper-shareable, and occasionally unhinged.

2. AI Time-Travel Selves

One of the year’s runaway hits. Users generated versions of themselves across eras: Me in 2050. Me as a Mughal queen. Me in 1970s Bollywood. Me in a K-drama. It became the new identity play — part history lesson, part cosplay, all AI magic.

3. AI Cat Reels: Feline Villains of the Internet

Thanks to the Billautaverse, AI-generated cat characters now have entire soap-opera plotlines. Think betrayal arcs, revenge monologues, and palace politics — all acted out by cats with exaggerated expressions. Originally for kids, now a full-blown adult obsession.

POP CULTURE TRENDS

Cute, cursed and completely unmissable. Labubu evolved from a designer toy into a status symbol. Influencers style it in lookbooks, creators build mythologies around it, and resale prices hit lakhs. It’s part mascot, part meme, part mystery.

5. Pookie: The Most Viral Love Language of 2025

A real-life couple said it first, but the internet made it a movement. “Pookie” is no longer a pet name — it’s a genre: pookie edits, pookie aesthetics, pookie ribbons, pookie playlists. It’s Gen Z’s shorthand for “you’re my person.” Sweet, strange, unstoppable.

6. Wabi Sabi Audio Trend: Imperfection Goes Viral

A soft, emotional audio clip turned into this year’s biggest vulnerability trend. Users paired it with raw, imperfect moments — crying, laughing, healing, reconnecting. It’s the anti-filter movement: emotional honesty over polished perfection.

CREATOR TRENDS

After Labubu came a wave of mini sensory collectibles — squishy, glossy, textured figurines perfect for ASMR unboxings. TikTok made them massive; Instagram made them aspirational.

8. Teleport Transitions

With AI editing tools, creators now “teleport” between locations mid-sentence — home to office to Bali to gym. It became a signature reveal format for everything from travel to fashion to brand launches.

9. Looping Life-Hacks

Creators perfected hacks so seamless the video loops without you noticing: folding shirts, cutting fruit, makeup transitions, kitchen tricks. The challenge became: can you spot where the video restarts?

10. Pet POV Dramas

Thanks to expressive AI voices, pets now “narrate” their lives with startling emotion: “Day 148 of hooman ignoring my chicken.” “Mailman is my bestie now.” It’s peak internet storytelling.

LIFESTYLE & BRAND TRENDS

Once an aspirational aesthetic, matcha is now a mainstream staple. India’s matcha market — ₹870 crore and growing — has gone from niche cafés to Instamart staples. Sanya Malhotra’s Bree Matcha added a celebrity-powered boost. It’s now shorthand for: wellness, quiet luxury, calm productivity.

12. Personalised Health: Your Body, Your Data

2025 feeds are full of glucose monitors, gut-friendly bowls, circadian diets and personalised nutrition dashboards. Wellness creators are building entire content ecosystems around what works for their bodies, not generic clean-eating advice.

From cursed plushies to teleported transitions, 2025 is the year the internet stopped being a distraction and became a cultural blueprint. These trends didn’t just shape algorithms — they shaped habits, language, aesthetics and the way we imagine ourselves.