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Somewhere between doomscrolling and burnout, people started buying ruffled pajamas and sending postcards. Etsy has the search data to prove it.
The impulse has a name now, whimsy, and although it might sound like a niche aesthetic trend, the numbers behind it say something more useful: People are making small deliberate choices to feel something good, and they are doing it in and around their homes.
‘Whimsy’ is having a moment
“Whimsy” is getting a cultural rebrand. Gen Z and younger millennials have recast the word to describe a lifestyle rooted in playfulness, spontaneity and being present. Think morning coffee rituals, sending postcards and doing activities their 10-year-old selves would have loved, according to a recent report in The New York Times.
Searches for whimsical jewelry, décor and related items on Etsy each climbed at least 50 percent compared with last year, the Times reported.
A psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School cited in the piece linked the movement to a generational shift away from inauthentic online interactions. For many adopters, it functions as a low-stakes way to reclaim a sense of control in an uncertain world.
The trend has skeptics, with some critics quoted in the Times calling it a marketing opportunity dressed up as a mood. But the consumer data suggests it’s resonating, at least for now.
What this means for real estate professionals
While the whimsy trend skews toward Gen Z and younger millennials, the underlying impulse isn’t generational. Baby boomers downsizing, Gen X buyers trading up and older millennials entering peak homebuying years are all navigating the same anxious news cycle.
Content that leans into the small, emotional joys of homeownership, like a sunny breakfast nook, a backyard built for wandering or a front porch made for slow mornings, meets people where they are right now. The specific aesthetic may vary by audience, but the desire for a home that feels like a refuge doesn’t. Warmth and specificity could outperform market stats in the feed this season.
Meta is going all-in on subscriptions
Meta launched subscription plans for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp this week, rolling out the offerings globally while simultaneously testing new tiers aimed at creators, businesses and AI users. Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus run $3.99 per month; WhatsApp Plus is $2.99 per month. Each plan adds platform-specific features, like Instagram Plus, which includes Story rewatch data, expanded audience lists and the ability to post to a profile without appearing in followers’ feeds, among other perks.
The more significant tests, however, are aimed at professionals. A Meta One Advanced plan, priced at $49.99 per month, would boost visibility in Facebook and Instagram search results, enable links in Reels and posts, surface deeper analytics and allow creators and businesses to automatically send follow invitations to people who engage with their content.
Meta is also testing AI-focused plans, Meta One Plus at $7.99 per month and Meta One Premium at $19.99 per month, that unlock higher compute capacity and expanded image and video generation.
Meta confirmed the plans are still in testing in select international markets, with a broader rollout expected over the coming weeks.
What this means for real estate professionals
The Meta One Advanced plan is worth watching. Appearing higher in search results, linking out from Reels and getting notified when your content is reused are features that address real pain points for agents trying to grow organically. If those tools perform as described, $49.99 a month could look reasonable against the cost of paid advertising, but agents should wait for independent performance data before committing.
Meta just launched a Reddit-style app built around your Facebook groups
Meta released a new standalone app called Forum this week, pulling Facebook Group activity into a separate platform designed around question-and-answer discussions. Users sign in with their Facebook credentials, which populates the app with their existing groups. Content shared in Forum remains visible in the corresponding Facebook group.
The app’s core feature is an “Ask” function that aggregates responses from across groups, surfacing answers from members with relevant experience. Responses can be upvoted, similar to Reddit’s model.
Forum is available now. Meta described it as “a dedicated space built for deeper discussions, real answers and the communities you care about.”
What this means for real estate professionals
If you’re already running or active in Facebook Groups like neighborhood communities, local buyer groups or agent networks, Forum gives those discussions a dedicated home with more visibility. The upvote mechanic could help your expertise surface more prominently when buyers and sellers are asking the kinds of questions you answer every day. It’s worth downloading and claiming your presence early.
Is social search eating Google’s lunch? Meta says yes
Buyers aren’t starting their searches on Google the way they used to, according to a new report from Meta. The company’s “Search Shift” deck, published this month and drawing on a March 2026 Kantar study Meta commissioned, argues that social platforms have become a primary discovery surface, with 41 percent of Gen Z now turning to social platforms before traditional search, per Sprout Social data also cited in the report.
The Meta-commissioned Kantar research, which surveyed 500 consumers aged 18 and older across the U.S., Brazil, Germany and India, found that 63 percent said purchases happen faster when social plays a role in their decision, and 65 percent reported feeling more confident in purchases influenced by social.
On the ad spend side, eMarketer projects Google’s share of U.S. search ad spending will fall below 50 percent in 2026, down from 67.1 percent a decade ago, with advertisers expected to spend more than $100 billion on non-Google search ads by 2028.
What this means for real estate professionals
Buyers are searching for homes the way they search for everything else — through video, peer recommendations and platform-native content. An agent’s Instagram Reels and Facebook posts are now part of the search ecosystem, not separate from it. If your listings and market content aren’t optimized to be found within social platforms, you’re missing buyers at the top of their decision funnel.
Mosseri breaks down which Instagram metrics actually move the needle
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri shared guidance this week on how engagement rates, rather than reach alone, determine how far a post travels on the platform. In a note on his personal Instagram, Mosseri said creators and marketers should focus on what percentage of viewers actually acted on a post rather than how many people saw it.
The distinction matters because different actions send different signals to the algorithm, Mosseri explained. Likes carry more weight with existing followers, signaling that a post is worth surfacing more broadly within an account’s community. Shares, on the other hand, are the stronger signal for unconnected reach, when users pass content to friends outside an account’s network, Instagram reads that as a cue to surface it in Explore and other recommendation feeds.
Mosseri also noted the difference between connected reach, views from current followers, and unconnected reach, views from non-followers, as a useful diagnostic for understanding where an account is and isn’t gaining traction.
What this means for real estate professionals
The data point to focus on is shares. If your goal is to reach buyers and sellers who don’t already follow you, content that people want to send to a friend is your highest-value asset.
TL;DR (Too Long, Didn’t Read)
- “Whimsy” is trending as a lifestyle antidote to an anxious news cycle, with Etsy reporting at least 50 percent growth in related searches.
- Meta launched subscription plans for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, with a $49.99 per month business tier that promises search visibility and Reels links.
- Meta’s new Forum app brings Facebook Groups into a Reddit-style Q&A experience, with an upvote system that can surface agent expertise.
- A Meta-commissioned report projects Google’s share of U.S. search ad spending will fall below 50 percent in 2026 as social platforms take over discovery.
- Instagram’s chief says shares — not likes — are the key metric for reaching new audiences outside your existing following.
The platforms are always shifting, the search data is fragmenting, and the algorithm continues to change what it rewards. But the ruffled pajamas, the postcard and the coffee ritual that made someone feel better this morning? That impulse doesn’t need an update. No amount of AI-generated content or subscription-tier restructuring will replace it. People want to feel something, and when they find content that delivers that, they share it. The agents who figure out how to make that happen in a feed full of market stats will have no trouble getting found.
Each week on Trending, Inman’s Jessi Healey dives into what’s buzzing in social media and why it matters for real estate professionals. From viral trends to platform changes, she’ll break it all down so you know what’s worth your time — and what’s not.
