In 2025 the media world is witnessing a seismic shift: users are increasingly favouring mobile-first social platforms over traditional streaming services. From short-form video apps to social feeds, the battle for attention is shifting away from long-form streaming into the scroll. This article argues that thanks to changing user behaviour, mobile ubiquity and algorithmic content delivery, social platforms are not just competing with streaming, they are surpassing it. We will explore why this is happening, what it means for brands and creators, and how businesses can adapt.
The Rise of Mobile-First Social Engagement
Changing consumption habits
Mobile devices have become the dominant lens through which content is accessed. According to one report, mobile accounts for 92% of all social media screen time in 2025. Average daily mobile social usage is around 2 hours 29 minutes.
Meanwhile, data suggests users now spend more time on social media and short-video feeds than on streaming or traditional TV. One study found adults average ~6 h 42 m per week on short-form videos, compared to ~4 h 57 m on longer-form online video, and adding social feeds yields ~13 h 48 m/week, which is 35% more than TV/streaming.
These numbers indicate a shift: content is increasingly mobile-native, snackable, and social rather than passively consumed in a living-room setting.
Algorithmic acceleration & discovery
Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts) have refined algorithms that deliver new content continuously into the scroll, driving engagement cycles. Social media is not just “content” it is “content plus interaction” likes, shares, comments, real-time feedback loops.
For Gen Z, social is where you both entertain and find information: 46% prefer social platforms for information over search engines.
Why Social Platforms Are Out-pacing Streaming
Immediate gratification & lower friction
Streaming services typically require selection of a show or movie, sometimes a login, and involve longer-form commitment. By contrast, social platforms deliver content instantly, in small chunks, often optimized for mobile. The user’s cognitive investment is lower, making it easier to consume in short bursts throughout the day.
The data backs this: users report spending more time on social feeds and short formats than on streaming.
Mobile-first design & ubiquity
Social apps are built from the ground up for mobile. The 92% mobile usage stat for social clearly shows how dominant mobile is.
Streaming services, while mobile-capable, still rely on longer sessions, TV/connected-device viewing, and often a “lean-back” mindset. Social is “lean-forward” and always with us — while commuting, waiting in line, in small pockets of time.
Content variety, creator economy & short-form explosion
Social platforms harness the creator economy: individual users creating content, interacting with communities, sparking trends. Many bite-sized viral videos outperform slower growing streaming series in terms of engagement and discoverability.
One dataset estimates global social media advertising spend at US $276.7 billion in 2025 and forecasts that by 2030, 83% of that ad spend will be mobile.
Moreover, the mobile/social model enables discovery, virality and community building something streaming services have tried to replicate, but often as an adjunct rather than core design.
Disruption of the “long-form only” paradigm
The traditional streaming model emphasised longer-form series and movies. But increasingly, users are shifting attention to shorter sessions and snackable content. The short-form video time (6 h 42 m/week) surpasses longer-form online video (4 h 57 m/week) in one study.
As these short sessions accumulate, they erode the dominance of streaming format. For younger users particularly, the social feed is a primary channel for entertainment, news, shopping and interaction.
Case Studies & Regional Perspectives
Case Study: Gen Z and mobile social dominance
For example, Gen Z usage of social media in 2024 grew by 7.7% in the U.S., compared to 1.8% overall. They gravitate to social platforms for discovery: 77% of Gen Z say they use TikTok for product discovery.
This generation’s behaviour signals future momentum: streaming services may maintain base usage, but growth will increasingly come from mobile/social channels.
Global context
According to the “Digital 2025” global report, there are approximately 5.42 billion social media users worldwide in 2025.
That implies an enormous global arena ready for social-first content. Streaming services still face geographic, licensing, and device limitations; social platforms often scale more readily across markets.
Brand and ad-spend shifts
Brands are increasingly reallocating budget to social platforms because they reach users where they are — mobile, social, interactive. With predicted mobile-driven ad spend on social rising sharply, the economics favour social platforms.
Implications for Businesses, Creators & Streaming Services
For brands and marketers
- Be mobile-first: Ensure campaigns are optimized for mobile screens, vertical formats, and snack-size content.
- Think social as entertainment: The social feed isn’t an ad slot it’s part of entertainment architecture. Brands must adopt the mindset of creating engaging content, not just pushing messages.
- Leverage creators: Partnering with influencers and creators on social platforms offers access to engaged mobile audiences in a way streaming ads may not.
- Track the right metrics: Engagement rates, session times, and content discovery matter more than traditional ratings in this model.
For creators
- Short-form and mobile-native content open doors. Creators who excel at high-velocity, share-friendly formats can build audiences faster than waiting for streaming deals.
- The mobile/social environment encourages experimentation; creators can iterate rapidly, get feedback, adjust, and monetise via creator-economy tools.
For streaming platforms
The shift presents both risk and opportunity:
- Risk: Streaming platforms face a challenge in capturing attention when users increasingly exist in bite-sized, mobile-social ecosystems.
- Opportunity: They can evolve by integrating short-form, interactive, social-native features; by leveraging mobile engagement; by creating hybrid models.
In short, streaming services cannot ignore the mobile-social wave they must adapt or be sidelined.
What Comes Next? Trends to Watch
- Short-form video growth: As data shows, short-form video usage is already outpacing longer-form online video. Meltwater Expect more platforms to double down here.
- Mobile commerce integration: Social platforms are increasingly becoming discovery and commerce hubs. Brands should prepare for combined entertainment-commerce experiences.
- Attention competition beyond streaming: As social platforms capture more time, streaming must fight not just other streaming but the scroll.
- Regional mobile-first growth: In emerging markets (Africa, Southeast Asia, Middle East) mobile social usage is still accelerating brands should pay attention.
- Hybrid content models: Streaming services may adopt social-native formats (clips, vertical video, community features) to maintain relevance.
Conclusion
The headline is clear: mobile-first social platforms are no longer just complementary to streaming they are out-pacing it. With mobile dominance, algorithmic delivery, snackable formats and the creator economy driving growth, social platforms have captured users’ attention in a way streaming services once did. For businesses, creators, and media companies the message is urgent: adapt to the mobile-social era or risk losing ground.
Takeaways:
- Prioritise mobile-first, short-form, social-native content.
- Treat social feeds as a primary entertainment channel, not an afterthought.
- Streaming services should evolve to integrate mobile/social behaviours, rather than assume viewers will always “sit down and stream”.
The forward outlook: as mobile device penetration climbs globally and attention economics tighten, the social platforms that deliver in-feed, interactive, mobile-native content will continue to gain. Streaming services must innovate or face being digitised into the social scroll.
