Social Media Marketing World 2026 draws 2,500 attendees to Anaheim

The 14th annual Social Media Marketing World conference drew around 2,500 attendees to Anaheim, California, with another 1,000 joining online. The event ran alongside the first annual AI Business World, effectively a conference within a conference.

A recurring theme across sessions was a return to the original roots of social media: real people connecting with each other and building community, and strengthening the know-like-trust factor in a feed environment increasingly crowded with synthetic content and mistrust.

Case studies presented at the event highlighted both Facebook Group owners and Page owners who have built durable businesses through strong communities and continue to monetize them well.

Organizers said recordings of the sessions would be made available to attendees, with speakers generally asked to wait before sharing their own session videos publicly.

Separately, a documentary called The AI Doc (full title: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist) has been drawing attention across the industry and is now available to watch at home as well as in select theaters.