Social media has been in a rough patch in recent years. Facebook and Instagram peaked in popularity nearly a decade ago, influencers have lost the novelty and respect they once garnered, and TikTok is at risk of being banned entirely in the United States. Every platform has some kind of “shop” feature and ads are everywhere, even while audiences are craving more authenticity in the social media space. What is going on?

Neptune, the planet ruling over our collective consciousness, the entertainment industry, idealism, and the dissolution of the status quo, moved into the sign of Pisces in 2012. This also happens to be the year that Facebook, now known as Meta, bought Instagram. This acquisition helped Facebook remain popular for several more years and also launched Instagram into the role of social media MVP (most valued platform). 

Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces, and so they share many common characteristics and emphasize one another. Pisces heightens the impact of Neptune, creating a period of new realms of art and collective creativity, big dreams and ideals, worldwide connection and new pathways for empathy. This Facebook and Instagram merger reflected Neptune in Pisces’ lack of limitations, creating the circumstances for this huge social media network empire to grow. Neptune in Pisces certainly affected the rise of New Age Spirituality and its wide-spread impact in the social media sphere as well. 

On the shadow side of things, Neptune in Pisces can create an atmosphere of delusion, illusion, confusion, and things not being how they seem on the surface. It reflects this need for us to look behind the screen and seek the truth, especially when the screen is showing captivating images of a thin, white, beautiful influencer on a beach in Bali like early Instagram thrived on. Neptune in Pisces also reflected the beginning of the wide-spread epidemic of social media addiction, declining mental health due to social media, and cultural escapism.

Neptune has been in Pisces since 2012, and next August, 2025, Saturn in Pisces will be conjunct Neptune. Saturn the task-master and accountability-coach will be asking us on a collective level to take responsibility for how social media’s unregulated growth has affected us and our world. We may see people change their approach to social media or leave it altogether. We may see new legislation being passed to protect consumers on social media, protect youth from the negative mental health effects of social media use, or hold social media companies accountable for the addictive programming they have intentionally built into their platforms. 

Neptune will move into the sign of Aries next year and will move closely with Saturn for a few years to come, forming a conjunction together several times. Aries is the sign of self-expression, independence, conflict, and new beginnings. This bodes for some major cultural shifts between Neptune’s pulling back the screen and Saturn’s karmic accountability. We are in for it folks! Get ready to have your beliefs turned upside down on a personal and collective level, and be called to take on new challenges and responsibilities. (If you will be going through your Saturn return when Saturn enters Aries, like me, all I have to say is, “oof”).

And in 2026, the planet Uranus will move into Gemini. Uranus is the planet of revolution, innovation, and collective liberation. Gemini is our little brainiac of the zodiac, ruling learning, communication, and the grassroots spread of knowledge and information. Uranus in Gemini will be a time of information leading to innovation on a collective and cultural level, greater curiosity and flexibility, and new approaches to media, social media, and how information is shared across communities.

Uranus in Gemini will add to the collective air energy that Pluto in Aquarius has created. Jupiter in Gemini this year will give us a sneak preview into the mega-air energy heading our way. This month and throughout the next year we may see some headlines hinting at what is to come for social media, particularly in the next few years. This age of air is asking us to communicate clearly and authentically, get curious, get serious about our personal and collective mental health, and think outside the box as we work to build our collective future together.