For years, marketers focused on building followers, growing communities, and encouraging engagement from existing audiences. That strategy made sense because social media platforms were designed around social connections. Today, that model is changing. Many marketers, creators, and industry leaders, such as Gary Vaynerchuk, are using the term "interest media" to describe the current state of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X. The shift reflects a fundamental change in how content is distributed and discovered. While most people still call these platforms social media, they increasingly function as interest-driven content engines powered by artificial intelligence and recommendation algorithms. For businesses, understanding this evolution is no longer optional. It directly affects visibility, content strategy, and lead generation. We've watched this play out across client accounts over the past two years. The businesses that adapted early, shifting...