Oh, hello!

The zeitgeist of social, tech and consumer culture, read from Dubai by Jessica Valentine. Home of Signals, a trend radar for the UK and the GCC.

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About Social Mode

Social Mode is a publication about what’s happening in social, tech and consumer culture, why it’s happening, and what it means for the rest of us. It’s written by me, Jessica Valentine, from Dubai.

From 2019 to 2025, Social Mode was my social media agency, working with brands across London and Dubai. Over those six years I watched the feed change from the inside. It stopped being a place where people talked to each other and turned into media: paid for, programmed and performed. So I closed the agency, went back to the wider marketing I’d trained in, and started writing about it instead.

Fourteen years across the UK and the UAE, in social, advertising, PR and publishing, means I’ve seen a lot of trends arrive, a few of them land, and most of them disappear. This is where I try to tell the difference.

What you’ll find here

Essays, every Monday. The longer argument. One shift in culture, taken apart properly, with the evidence for it and against it.

Something lighter, every Thursday. One of the series: Worth the Screen Time (what’s actually worth watching), Next Up (creators I’d bet on before everyone else does) and Forming (trends I can see taking shape). Or a shorter piece.

Signals

In October 2026 I launched Signals by Social Mode, a trend radar built for the UK and the GCC. It maps the big, slow shifts (and growing trends) in how people live and spend, shows how many of the major global forecasts agree on each one, and gives every trend a UK read, a GCC read and a recommendation for what brands should do about it.

The radar is free, for everyone: signals.red

Paid subscribers get the thinking behind it:

• A monthly signal digest: what I’ve spotted that month and why it matters

• A quarterly trend report, starting with Q4 GCC Trends in December

• The full annual predictions report, every November, starting with 2027

• The Signals foundation essays: how to read a trend report, what makes a macro trend, and the history of the trend business

If you work in a brand, an agency or PR and want Signals for your business, email me at jessica@socialmode.com.

Personal brand strategy

I also work with a small number of people on their personal brand and content strategy: founders, executives, consultants and creators whose reputation is part of the job. More at byjessicavalentine.com/social-mode.

Say hello

Reply to any email, or find me on Instagram at @byjessicavalentine and @social.mode. There’s a real person reading.

Jessica x