This is the detailed data including source links to accompany my email on the decline of social media:
In 2025, Imperva reported that automated web traffic (non-human) crossed the 51% threshold, and that percentage continues to grow.
There are multiple reports (cited here) that in 2026 to-date, at least 79% of images posted on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest had detectable AI.
2026 Sprout Social surveys found that over 50% of Gen Z social media users have unfollowed accounts due to AI-generated content.
Quarter 1 of 2026 saw the first ever decline in average daily users on Meta. This is despite the fact that there were over a billion (with a b) fake or bot account creation attempts detected and removed in the same period, with plausible data showing that AI is getting better at evading detection.
The UK AI Security Institute (AISI) has estimated that over a third of new social media accounts are AI-generated. In a recent cyber test, they found both Claude and Open AI agents autonomously creating accounts in order to fulfill user requests that did not explicitly include instructions to do so. (By the way, their blog is a great way to lose a few hours down the rabbit hole… ask me how I know!)
This BBC article gives a great (and disturbing) summary of some recent test findings as well.
