What will the key trends of note in the year ahead be? 

Today, Instagram weighs in with its own "2024 Trend Talk" that gives an overview of what younger audiences see as the top trends to watch for based on what got their attention this year and what they want to see more of.

To pinpoint the top trends of focus, Instagram partnered with WGSN to survey the user from the U.S., UK, Brazil, India, and South Korea.
The final outcome is a summary of the top emerging trends in seven categories: "Fashion and Beauty", "Lifestyle", "Social Media", and so on
And of course, "Social Media" is our focus area.

According to Instagram, the social media topic category of "meaningful connections" will dominate 2024, while Gen Z users increasingly reported they will use social media "to keep up with their friends and family.".

Another area of social media use is keeping up with trendy information, but also like the trends we have been witnessing for the last couple years; social media is losing its broadcast self and is becoming more of a private, confined group communication.

Here are also the top fashion trends of 2024 according to this report:

Modest Dressing
Thrifting, Vintage, Heirloom
Wearing the same outfits multiple times as a sustainable move
Wearing clothes in ways not originally intended
DIY
Also, it includes the top five "icks", food trends, celebrities-the majority of Gen Zs have sent a DM to a celebrity on Instagram?-and more.

It gives a pretty interesting overview of the major, emerging trends among the youth that will be propelling change to a next level in the various aspects.

But while so many other elements will affect those, it is also fascinating to look at where attention is shifting, and what younger audiences are looking at as they look ahead.

It may even help a little bit in your 2024 planning as you give some additional guidance for your content strategy.