Snapchat and Mindscope today unveil Reset Velocity™, a new proprietary behavioural research model designed to measure how far and how fast audiences are moving from public feeds towards private online spaces.
Launched at Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity, the research identifies a major behavioural shift away from public, curated and performative social media, and towards a return to what it originally promised to be: a place for real connection with friends. It shows audiences increasingly seeking more private and emotionally meaningful spaces, where sharing feels less like broadcasting to an audience and more like connecting with the people who matter.
Across EMEA, the new data reveals that 63% of audiences now connect primarily in DMs and private Stories, while 85% share privately between one and ten times a day. More than half (56%) prefer private brand interaction, including DMs, Stories and chatbots, compared with 20% who prefer public comments or feed-based interaction.
Drawing on this data, Mindscope developed Reset Velocity™- a behavioural science model that measures how far audiences have shifted from public, performance-driven social media towards more private, authentic and relationship-led communication. The score combines three behavioural indicators: Connection Intent (who people share with), Authenticity Signal (whether sharing is driven by genuine expression or performance), and Relational Durability (whether interactions build lasting relationships). EMEA now scores 70/100 on the index, up 37 points since 2019, indicating that the shift towards a more connection-led model of social media is already well underway.
The study highlights an authenticity ‘say-do gap’. Audiences say they want more authentic, connection-led social experiences than they’re currently getting, presenting an opportunity for brands to build more meaningful and less performative relationships with consumers. This suggests the opportunity for brands is no longer just about reach, scale and mass attention but that brands need to earn a place in the private, participatory and trust-led spaces where real connections take place.
The research also found that the camera is becoming a conversational tool. Four in five (81%) of EMEA adults use the camera at least weekly to communicate instead of typing, showing that visual communication is no longer just about publishing content, but about responding, reconnecting and participating.
In addition, 74% of EMEA adults have used Augmented Reality (AR), and 81% find at least one AR brand experience appealing, positioning immersive, camera-based experiences as a natural extension of private, participatory and utility-led interaction.
The research shows that audiences across EMEA are all moving in the same direction, but some markets are changing faster than others. The Nordics are furthest ahead in the shift towards more private and connection-led social media. France shows the biggest gap between the authentic experiences people want and what they feel they are getting today. The UK stands out for the role social media plays in strengthening relationships, while Germany has the furthest to go in moving away from older, more public social behaviours. In KSA and the UAE, the camera is already heavily embedded in how people communicate.
Snapchat reflects this shift particularly strongly. Respondents who selected Snapchat as their preferred platform over-index on the behaviours driving the reset, with 59% using Snap primarily for private DMs versus a 18% platform average and 74% saying Snap strengthens real-life relationships versus a 38% average.
The findings were explored during a live panel discussion at Cannes Lions, moderated by journalist Massimo Marioni alongside Ronan Harris, President EMEA at Snapchat; Lea Karam, pioneering behavioural scientist and CEO of Mindscope; and Eugene Healey, well-known brand strategist.
Ronan Harris, President, EMEA, Snapchat said: “For advertisers, the message is clear. Brands need to stop focusing only on grabbing attention. They need to move beyond one-off broadcast campaigns and build a more lasting presence in people’s lives. That means showing up in ways that feel real, relevant and useful, rather than polished, performative or purely reach-driven.”
Lea Karam, CEO & founder, Mindscope said: “The pressure to perform in public has created a behavioural shift away from performative, extrinsic spaces and towards smaller, more private environments where connection feels more meaningful and intrinsic. Reset Velocity™ measures that behavioural shift for the first time. Audiences are not abandoning social media; but they are resetting their relationship with it. For advertisers, winning the next era will require choosing compounding connection and presence over fragmented campaign cycles, and consciously building that in spaces where your communities feel bonded by social capital, chosen by brands, and rewarded by (re)connecting with each other in creative, raw spaces.”
To view the research and data in full, please visit our interactive dashboard.
