What. A. Year. A year full of uncertainty, in a government shutdown and global conflicts, and a year full of great moments, including the Super Bowl in New Orleans and exciting tech breakthroughs. Here are some of our favorite stories and moments from 2025.
The Never-Ending News Cycle (And It’s Impact)
Like we said, January 2025 feels closer than January 2026 for some of us. With a 24-hr news cycle from newspapers to our phones to our TVs, the constant inundation of information can cause all sorts of fatigue.
What’s Trending: At the tail-end of 2024, Axios released the above chart mapping how Google’s search trends evolved throughout the year. And while in January, the team at the Gulf South Index noted we wouldn’t be able to predict what happened in 2025, no doubt some of these search terms will turn up again this year – while others seem so far-removed from our current reality, we might not even remember what they mean. The inundation is constant, but the information we’re inundated with is always fluctuating.
We’re losing confidence in mass media, too, as the information overload overwhelms us. According to Gallup, only 31% of Americans had either “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in the mass media – the lowest number in five decades.
And how can you blame us? A 2022 report by BigThink and PLos ONE highlighted how news headlines have become significantly more negative over the past two decades, increasingly driven by anger, disgust and fear while joy fades.
But while mass media suffers, we know local media still breaks through. According to our 2025 Gulf South Index, 35% of Gulf South residents and 40% of national respondents have “a great deal” or “quite a lot of trust” in local news, compared to 19% and 26% trusting cable news, and only 17% and 15% trusting social sites. And the highest trust after local news is our friends and neighbors, at 31% and 27%. As we shared earlier this year, when we’re with the people we trust most and spend the most time with, we feel okay.
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The Generational Gap Widens
2025 was a big year for our big generations – Generation Alpha (2013 – 2024) came into their own as Generation Z (1997 – 2012) solidified themselves in the workplace. Throughout the year, each generation faces their own challenges and triumphs.
Gen Alpha is wielding big power for the youngest generation. This year more than ever, we learned Gen Alpha’s toolset goes beyond their (smaller) pockets: they have influence. As the generation grows, more and more of their parents (largely millennials) are making their financial decisions based on the needs and interests of their children – from the tech they buy to the vacations they take. And they’re also “well on their way to becoming the savviest tech generation, trained to master Apple products since before they could walk or talk.”
Meanwhile, millennials (1981 – 1996) are feeling the pressure. As they grow in their adulthood, they are often the parent behind the purchasing power for their Gen Alpha kids – at the same time, also potentially helping support older parents. As the new ‘sandwich generation,’ in a tough economy, they are looking for help where they can get it, and luxury where they can afford it, according to Morning Consult.
And Gen Z is…anxious. Deloitte reported them to be 6% more anxious about high prices than other generations. 41% feel some sort of internal pressure such as ‘pressure to be successful’ or an external pressure like ‘judged by older generations,’ according to the Impact 360 Institute. And according to the 2025 Gulf South Index, only 39% believed 2025 would be a better year for them than 2024. As Gen Z teeters into full-blown adulthood, they are feeling the growing pains.
***
Finding Common Ground
It’s not always easy – but we know it’s necessary. In a year full of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to emphasize the things that connect us to each other.
We have more in common than we think. And we’re inclined to think we’re in much different company. In 2022, market research firm YouGov polled 1,000 U.S. adults, asking what percentage of Americans they believed were part of various identified groups. Maybe unsurprisingly, the results show plenty of perception deficits. For example: less than 0% of Americans have a household income over $1 million, but we perceive 20% do.
But we’re on the same page more than we think. 97% of national respondents of the Gulf South Index ranked family as important, as did 95% of the Gulf South. 86% and 87% felt the same way about community, respectively. We may perceive big differences among us, but we’re always more aligned than we think, especially on the stuff that matters most.
Better Days Ahead. That’s something we can all get behind. 56% of the Gulf South, and 50% of us nationally are still proud to be American in 2025, a trend we hope we’ll see continue as we head into our 2026 report.
***
So, this year was crazy, but is it really any crazier than any other year? Information everywhere, making different impacts on different age groups. But, across generations and communities, we were constantly reminded that despite the noise, we share more than we think, and we care about many of the same things.
What. A. Year. A year full of uncertainty, in a government shutdown and global conflicts, and a year full of great moments, including the Super Bowl in New Orleans and exciting tech breakthroughs. Here are some of our favorite stories and moments from 2025.
The Never-Ending News Cycle (And It’s Impact)
Like we said, January 2025 feels closer than January 2026 for some of us. With a 24-hr news cycle from newspapers to our phones to our TVs, the constant inundation of information can cause all sorts of fatigue.
What’s Trending: At the tail-end of 2024, Axios released the above chart mapping how Google’s search trends evolved throughout the year. And while in January, the team at the Gulf South Index noted we wouldn’t be able to predict what happened in 2025, no doubt some of these search terms will turn up again this year – while others seem so far-removed from our current reality, we might not even remember what they mean. The inundation is constant, but the information we’re inundated with is always fluctuating.
We’re losing confidence in mass media, too, as the information overload overwhelms us. According to Gallup, only 31% of Americans had either “a great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in the mass media – the lowest number in five decades.
And how can you blame us? A 2022 report by BigThink and PLos ONE highlighted how news headlines have become significantly more negative over the past two decades, increasingly driven by anger, disgust and fear while joy fades.
But while mass media suffers, we know local media still breaks through. According to our 2025 Gulf South Index, 35% of Gulf South residents and 40% of national respondents have “a great deal” or “quite a lot of trust” in local news, compared to 19% and 26% trusting cable news, and only 17% and 15% trusting social sites. And the highest trust after local news is our friends and neighbors, at 31% and 27%. As we shared earlier this year, when we’re with the people we trust most and spend the most time with, we feel okay.
***
The Generational Gap Widens
2025 was a big year for our big generations – Generation Alpha (2013 – 2024) came into their own as Generation Z (1997 – 2012) solidified themselves in the workplace. Throughout the year, each generation faces their own challenges and triumphs.
Gen Alpha is wielding big power for the youngest generation. This year more than ever, we learned Gen Alpha’s toolset goes beyond their (smaller) pockets: they have influence. As the generation grows, more and more of their parents (largely millennials) are making their financial decisions based on the needs and interests of their children – from the tech they buy to the vacations they take. And they’re also “well on their way to becoming the savviest tech generation, trained to master Apple products since before they could walk or talk.”
Meanwhile, millennials (1981 – 1996) are feeling the pressure. As they grow in their adulthood, they are often the parent behind the purchasing power for their Gen Alpha kids – at the same time, also potentially helping support older parents. As the new ‘sandwich generation,’ in a tough economy, they are looking for help where they can get it, and luxury where they can afford it, according to Morning Consult.
And Gen Z is…anxious. Deloitte reported them to be 6% more anxious about high prices than other generations. 41% feel some sort of internal pressure such as ‘pressure to be successful’ or an external pressure like ‘judged by older generations,’ according to the Impact 360 Institute. And according to the 2025 Gulf South Index, only 39% believed 2025 would be a better year for them than 2024. As Gen Z teeters into full-blown adulthood, they are feeling the growing pains.
***
Finding Common Ground
It’s not always easy – but we know it’s necessary. In a year full of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to emphasize the things that connect us to each other.
We have more in common than we think. And we’re inclined to think we’re in much different company. In 2022, market research firm YouGov polled 1,000 U.S. adults, asking what percentage of Americans they believed were part of various identified groups. Maybe unsurprisingly, the results show plenty of perception deficits. For example: less than 0% of Americans have a household income over $1 million, but we perceive 20% do.
But we’re on the same page more than we think. 97% of national respondents of the Gulf South Index ranked family as important, as did 95% of the Gulf South. 86% and 87% felt the same way about community, respectively. We may perceive big differences among us, but we’re always more aligned than we think, especially on the stuff that matters most.
Better Days Ahead. That’s something we can all get behind. 56% of the Gulf South, and 50% of us nationally are still proud to be American in 2025, a trend we hope we’ll see continue as we head into our 2026 report.
***
So, this year was crazy, but is it really any crazier than any other year? Information everywhere, making different impacts on different age groups. But, across generations and communities, we were constantly reminded that despite the noise, we share more than we think, and we care about many of the same things.