From Automation to Authenticity: Why a Majority of Social Media Tools Are Becoming Obsolete in 2025

Author(s): Tim Urista | Senior Cloud Engineer

Originally published on Towards AI.

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Social media engagement is broken.

Last year in 2024, despite businesses spending a record $65 billion on social media marketing, average engagement rates plummeted to just 0.07% across major platforms — down 60% from 2020.

Twitter Circle Generators and similar automation tools promised to solve this crisis, with over 200,000 businesses adopting them in the past year alone. Yet these “quick fixes” are now contributing to a deeper problem: the erosion of authentic human connection that drives meaningful engagement.

As a senior software engineer who has built engagement systems at Apple, Meta, and Roku, I’ve witnessed firsthand how the pursuit of artificial engagement metrics has created a technological arms race that leaves both creators and audiences increasingly frustrated and disconnected. This article cuts through the hype to examine why current automation tools are failing, what the data tells us about truly effective engagement strategies, and how emerging technologies are reshaping the future of social media interaction. Whether you’re a developer, marketer, or creator, understanding this shift is critical — because in the next 18 months, the tools and techniques that defined social media success for the… Read the full blog for free on Medium.

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Published via Towards AI