Content Decay

ScottGraffius.com | Blog | Intersection of Project Leadership with Business and Technology

Journal of Marketing Cites Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media

01 August 2026

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Recommended Citation

Graffius, S. M. (2026, August 1). Journal of Marketing Cites Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/journal-of-marketing-cites-research-by-scott-m-graffius.html

About This Article

Source information and links for materials cited are provided in the References section.

Journal of Marketing Paper Cites Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" Work

Scott M. Graffius is a technology leader, researcher, award-winning author, and international speaker specializing in advanced AI, teamwork tradecraft, and organizational agility. He has led initiatives that have generated more than $2.51 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations worldwide. Graffius is known for his research on human teams and human-AI teams, including the "exotic team dynamics" that emerge when people collaborate with advanced AI. His research, including "Phases of Team Development" and "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts," is widely adopted, frequently cited, and recognized for its practical impact.

Graffius' work has been used by leading businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, publications, media outlets, and others. Select examples include Boston Consulting Group, Buffer, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Government of Canada, Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest Inc., the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Telecommunications Policy.

The list now includes the Journal of Marketing, the flagship journal of the American Marketing Association and a premier outlet for marketing scholarship. In their article, “How Closely Should You Follow a Trend? Atypicality and Engagement on Social Media,” Marc Bravin, Melanie Clegg, Reto Hofstetter, Marc Pouly, and Jonah Berger cite Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025.” The authors analyzed more than 85,000 TikTok dance videos with a multimodal analytics tool and found that more atypical (differentiated) content generates greater engagement, especially once audiences have already seen many versions of the trend.

Select excerpts from the paper are shown in the visual below.

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The Journal of Marketing paper references the 2025 edition of Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research.

Algorithms and other factors on platforms change over time. For that reason, Graffius periodically updates his work. To provide current context, information on the 2026 edition follows.

This edition stands out for its:

◾️ Scope (5.6 million posts),
◾️ Coverage (11 platforms),
◾️ Methodology (multi-source, representative, data-driven),
◾️ Continuity (annual updates), and
◾️ Value (actionable insights).

A visual from the 2026 edition is shown below. Additional details are here.

scott-m-graffius-lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2026-summary-visual-v26012207-jpg-lwres

Scott M. Graffius has generated over $2.51 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations around the world. Put that track record to work for you. For speaking engagements, use the request form; for other inquiries, email him.

References

American Marketing Association. (n.d.). https://www.ama.org

Berger, J. (n.d.). Jonah Berger. https://www.linkedin.com/in/j1berger/

Bravin, M. (n.d.). Marc Bravin. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-bravin/

Bravin, M., Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2026, June 29). How closely should you follow a trend? Atypicality and engagement on social media. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429261466668

Clegg, M. (n.d.). Melanie Clegg. https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-clegg-2bb143188/

Graffius, S. M. (2025, January 6). Lifespan (half-life) of social media posts: Update for 2025. ScottGraffius.com. https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2025.html

Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689

Hofstetter, R. (n.d.). Reto Hofstetter. https://www.linkedin.com/in/reto-hofstetter/

Journal of Marketing. (n.d.). https://journals.sagepub.com/home/JMX

Pouly, M. (n.d.). Marc Pouly. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcpouly/

About the Authors of the Journal of Marketing Paper

Marc Bravin, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of St. Gallen and a Lecturer for Artificial Intelligence at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He earned his PhD in AI and Business from the University of Lucerne. His research and teaching interests include data science, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning operations, and digital marketing.

Melanie Clegg, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at HEC Lausanne, the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne. Her research focuses on digital marketing, including artificial intelligence, social media marketing, and user-generated content.

Reto Hofstetter, PhD, is a Full Professor of Executive Education and Marketing at the University of St. Gallen. His research interests include pricing, preference measurement, online marketing, social media, crowdsourcing, and digital consumer behavior.

Marc Pouly, PhD, is the Co-Head of the Applied Artificial Intelligence Research Lab at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He earned his PhD in Artificial Intelligence and is a Scientific Advisor to AI companies including Alpine AI and Artificialy. His work spans artificial intelligence, machine learning, and applied AI.

Jonah Berger, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a world-renowned expert on word of mouth, social influence, consumer behavior, digital marketing, and viral marketing. He is the internationally bestselling author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On and several other books, and he consults for major organizations and brands.

About the Journal of Marketing

The Journal of Marketing develops, advances, and shares knowledge on practical marketing issues that are valuable to scholars, educators, managers, policymakers, consumers, and other stakeholders. It is the leading publication for rigorous marketing research. Since its establishment in 1936, the Journal has played an influential role in shaping the scope of the marketing discipline. The American Marketing Association owns the Journal of Marketing, which is published by SAGE Publishing on the Association's behalf.

About the American Marketing Association

The American Marketing Association (AMA) is one of the world's leading professional associations dedicated to the advancement of marketing theory, practice, and education. Founded in 1937, the AMA serves marketing scholars, educators, practitioners, and students by fostering knowledge development, supporting professional growth, and promoting ethical and effective marketing practices.

Through its research, publications, conferences, professional resources, and global community, the AMA has played a significant role in shaping the evolution of the marketing discipline. The Association supports the exchange of ideas between academia and industry while advancing understanding of marketing's role in organizations, economies, and society.

The AMA owns several highly regarded scholarly journals, including the Journal of Marketing, one of the premier publications for rigorous marketing research. Established in 1936, the Journal of Marketing has contributed substantially to defining and expanding the scope of the marketing discipline. The AMA also owns other leading marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of International Marketing, and Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. These publications serve as influential platforms for research that informs scholars, educators, managers, policymakers, and other stakeholders worldwide.

For publication operations and distribution, the AMA partners with established academic publishers. For example, SAGE Publishing serves as the publishing partner for the Journal of Marketing, managing publication services and distribution on behalf of the AMA while the Association retains ownership and editorial oversight.

Through its journals and broader professional initiatives, the American Marketing Association continues to serve as a central institution in advancing marketing knowledge and connecting research with real-world applications.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 98 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.51 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, MSN, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. Graffius has conducted 98 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
MSN,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program, and Project Management
Agile Practice Guide – Second Edition
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Eighth Edition
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition
The Standard for Program Management – Fourth Edition
Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Second Edition
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating – Second Edition

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

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Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."

The 2026 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities—such as Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2026 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Discover Scott’s Books

Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.

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List of Additional Articles

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, S. M. (2026, August 1). Journal of Marketing Cites Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/journal-of-marketing-cites-research-by-scott-m-graffius.html

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Coming soon

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Content Acknowledgements

The Journal of Marketing paper, “How Closely Should You Follow a Trend? Atypicality and Engagement on Social Media,” by authors Marc Bravin, Melanie Clegg, Reto Hofstetter, Marc Pouly, and Jonah Berger cite Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025" research. The paper is the property of its authors/owners. The Journal of Marketing is the flagship publication of the American Marketing Association and one of the most influential and highly ranked journals in the marketing discipline. Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners. This article includes limited excerpts of the respective paper, attributed and used under the fair use doctrine for purposes of news reporting, commentary, and analysis. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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#AudienceEngagement
#AudienceAttention
#ContentDecay
#ContentLifespan
#ContentMarketing
#ContentStrategy
#DigitalMarketing
#HalfLifeOfContent
#JournalOfMarketing
#LifespanOfSocialMediaPosts
#MarketingResearch
#MediaResearch
#SocialMedia
#SocialMediaAnalytics
#SocialMediaHalfLife
#SocialMediaMarketing
#SocialMediaResearch
#TikTok

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Audience Engagement • Audience Attention • Content Decay • TikTok • Social Media Research • Social Media Marketing • Social Media Half-Life • Social Media HalfLife • Social Media • Social Media Analytics • Media Research • Marketing Research • Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts • Journal of Marketing • Half-Life of Content • HalfLife of Content • Digital Marketing • Content Strategy • Content Lifespan • Content Marketing • American Marketing Association

Scott M. Graffius’ Research Took the Stage at Adobe Kickoff 2026

07 October 2026

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

in Follow on LinkedInFollow @scottgraffius

adobe svp and gm Varun Parmar featured Graffius research at Adobe Kickoff 2026 - visual - lwres

Recommended Citation

Graffius, S. M. (2026, October 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Research Took the Stage at Adobe Kickoff 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-research-took-the-stage-at-adobe-kickoff-2026.html

About This Article

Source information and links for materials cited are provided in the References section.

Graffius' Research, on Adobe's Stage

Scott M. Graffius is a tech leader, researcher, award-winning author, practitioner, consultant, and international public and corporate speaker specializing in AI, Agile, project/program/portfolio management (PPPM), PMO leadership, and teamwork tradecraft. His work explores the intersection of human ingenuity and advanced technology, with a strong practitioner voice grounded in research, experimentation, and experience. His focus includes innovation, organizational performance, and teamwork, including the "exotic team dynamics" that emerge when people collaborate with advanced AI. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement. He has delivered more than $3.1 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations spanning technology, entertainment and media, financial services, healthcare, and other industries.

Adobe featured Graffius' research on screen at Adobe Kickoff 2026, an international Adobe event. During the event, Adobe SVP and GM Varun Parmar presented "The Future of Content Supply Chain." One of his slides, "Content decay across channels intensified content demand," used and cited data from Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts." Limited excerpts are shown below.

adobe svp and gm Varun Parmar featured Graffius research at Adobe Kickoff 2026 - excerpts - lwres

Parmar highlighted the significance of the finding: "One theme that really stood out: the half-life of content is collapsing. Across channels, relevance now lasts minutes, or seconds in platforms like TikTok, while expectations for quality, brand consistency, and performance keep rising. That tension is exactly what’s driving the need for AI to deliver production-ready content at unprecedented speed and scale."

The "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" is used and cited by organizations and publications around the world. Examples in addition to Adobe include École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Frontiers in Public Health, GoDaddy, Government of Canada, IEEE, Marketing in the Metaverse, Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth, The Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest Inc., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Strategic Business Research, Telecommunications Policy, and many more.

Adobe showed data from the 2025 edition of the research (except for data on TikTok). Graffius periodically updates his research. The 2026 edition stands out for its:

◾️ Scope: 5.6 million posts
◾️ Coverage: 11 platforms
◾️ Methodology: multi-source, representative, data-driven
◾️ Continuity: annual updates
◾️ Value: actionable insights

Details are here.

Scott M. Graffius has generated over $3.1 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations around the world. Put that track record to work for you. For speaking engagements, use the request form; for other inquiries, email him.

References

Adobe. (n.d.). Abobe. https://www.adobe.com/

Adobe. (n.d.). Varun Parmar. https://blog.adobe.com/authors/varun-parmar

Graffius, S. M. (2025, January 6). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2025.html

Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689

Parmar, V. (2026). Still feeling the energy from Adobe Sales Kickoff and the collective energy of our global team [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vparmar_still-feeling-the-energy-from-adobe-sales-ugcPost-7410483293743190016-Nvvn/

About Adobe

Adobe is a global leader in digital experiences and creative technology, empowering individuals, businesses, and organizations to create, communicate, and deliver exceptional digital content and experiences. Its industry-leading portfolio includes Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Experience Cloud, spanning creativity, digital documents, and customer experience management. Adobe is also advancing the future of creativity and digital work through Adobe Firefly and the integration of generative AI across its products and services. With a global customer base ranging from individual creators to some of the world’s largest enterprises, Adobe plays a significant role in shaping how people and organizations create, collaborate, and engage in the digital economy.

About Varun Parmar

Varun Parmar is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Adobe GenStudio and Firefly for Enterprise, where he leads industry-defining solutions at the intersection of marketing, creativity, and artificial intelligence. Adobe GenStudio helps marketing teams plan, create, manage, activate, and measure on-brand content, while Adobe Firefly Services provides generative AI and creative APIs that help enterprises and agency networks accelerate repetitive asset-production tasks. Parmar previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Miro, where he led a global team of more than 1,000 people, and as Chief Product Officer at Box. Earlier in his career, he co-founded a document-collaboration startup acquired by Box, held senior product roles at Dell EMC, and spent six years at Adobe in corporate strategy and product management for Acrobat and Document Cloud. He holds a joint master’s degree in business and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

About Adobe Sales Kickoff 2026

Adobe Sales Kickoff 2026 was an international Adobe event bringing together leaders and teams from across the company to discuss business priorities, innovation, technology, and the future of Adobe’s work. The event featured presentations from senior Adobe executives and other speakers, including Varun Parmar, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Adobe, who presented "The Future of Content Supply Chain." Parmar’s presentation included a slide titled "Content decay across channels intensified content demand," which cited and used data from Scott M. Graffius’ research on the half-life of social media posts.

The following brief explanation of content decay is included because Adobe references the concept in the context of increasing content demand. Content decay is the gradual decline in the relevance, effectiveness, and performance of content over time. It can occur as information becomes outdated, audience needs and behaviors change, competing content improves, or content loses effectiveness in its channel.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius is a technology leader, researcher, award-winning author, practitioner, consultant, thought leader, and international public speaker specializing in AI, Agile, project/program/portfolio management (PPPM), PMO leadership, and teamwork tradecraft. His work explores the intersection of human ingenuity and emerging technology, with a strong practitioner voice grounded in research, experimentation, and experience. His focus includes innovation, organizational performance, and the evolving practice of teamwork, including the "exotic team dynamics" that emerge when people collaborate with advanced artificial intelligence (agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic AI). Graffius has delivered more than $3.1 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations spanning technology, entertainment and media, financial services, healthcare, government, and other industries.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, publications, and media outlets use Graffius and his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Innovation Project Management, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, MSN, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections highlight his experience, leadership, contributions, research, and enduring influence across industries and institutions worldwide.

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Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and enterprise PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment and media, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Additional information is on LinkedIn.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Graffius' first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, earned 17 awards. It provides a practical, step-by-step guide to Scrum, enabling teams to deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage.

Paperback ISBN-13: 9781533370242
Kindle ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY

Additional information on Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is here.

His second book, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority. It tells the compelling story of an entertainment company's agile transformation—offering lessons that apply across industries.

Paperback ISBN-13: 9781072447962
Kindle ASIN: B07R9LJLPJ

Additional information on Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change is here.

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, is his third book—and his first work of fiction.

It's a fast-paced satirical story by that dismantles corporate Agile cosplay and other forms of "fake Agile" while delivering practical insights, actionable guidance, and proven practices for real-world Agile transformation success.

Packed with humor, quirky characters, sharp commentary on corporate culture and workplace absurdities, and actionable tips, it’s a must-read for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Agile Coaches, Agile Project Managers, and other professionals interested in Agile project management and enterprise agility.

Kindle ASIN: B0F2SJ83WT
Audible ASIN: B0DJG163R5

Additional information on Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is here.

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International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on technology (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and enterprise PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops.

Graffius has conducted 99 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), Future of Work and Advanced AI (Paris, France), and more.

With an average rating of 4.82 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BCG,
BMC Software,
Boston Consulting Group (BCG),
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Marketing,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
MSN,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Ohio State University,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Round Square Global Educational Network,
Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program, and Project Management.
Agile Practice Guide — Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) — Eighth Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) — Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management — Fourth Edition.
Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures — Second Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating — Second Edition.

Graffius is a renowned and highly-cited authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development.

First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams.

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Its adoption by esteemed organizations—such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others—highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development." The 2026 edition is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems.

Referenced and applied by leading entities—such as Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2026 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and project/program/portfolio management (PPPM), and PMO leadership. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Booking

Graffius has generated over $3.1 billion in business value for Fortune 500 companies and other organizations served. Put that track record to work for you. For speaking engagements, use the request form; for other inquiries, email him.

Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.

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List of Additional Articles

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, S. M. (2026, October 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Research Took the Stage at Adobe Kickoff 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-research-took-the-stage-at-adobe-kickoff-2026.html

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Coming soon

Content Acknowledgements

Adobe SVP and GM Varun Parmar headlined Adobe Kickoff 2026 (also known as Adobe Sales Kickoff 2026). His talk, "The Future of Content Supply Chain," featured data from Scott M. Graffius. Parmar’s slide, "Content decay across channels intensified content demand," used and cited data from the 2025 edition of Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research. The slide identified Graffius as the source in the lower-left corner. Adobe name, mark, and content are the property of Adobe Inc. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. This article includes limited excerpts from the Adobe presentation, attributed and used under the fair use doctrine for purposes of news reporting, commentary, and analysis.

#SKO
#Abobe
#AdobeKickoff
#AdobeKickoff2026
#AdobeSalesKickoff
#ContentDecay
#HalfLifeOfSocialMedia
#SocialMedia
#SocialMediaResearch
#AudienceEngagement

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Copyright

Tags: Abobe • Half-Life of Social Media • Content Decay • Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts • Adobe Kickoff 2026 • Engagement • #SKO • Varun Parmar • #Abobe • #AdobeKickoff • #AdobeKickoff2026 • #AdobeSalesKickoff • #ContentDecay • #SocialMedia • #AudienceEngagement • #SocialMediaResearch • #HalfLifeOfSocialMedia • Social Media Research • Social Media • Adobe Sales Kickoff 2026

Journal of Marketing Cites Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media

Journal of Marketing Paper Cites Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" Work

References

About the Authors of the Journal of Marketing Paper

About the Journal of Marketing

About the American Marketing Association

About Scott M. Graffius

List of Additional Articles

How to Cite This Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Content Acknowledgements

Tags and Hashtags

Post-Publication Notes

Copyright

Scott M. Graffius’ Research Took the Stage at Adobe Kickoff 2026

Graffius' Research, on Adobe's Stage

References

About Adobe

About Varun Parmar

About Adobe Sales Kickoff 2026

About Scott M. Graffius

Booking

List of Additional Articles

How to Cite This Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

Content Acknowledgements

Tags and Hashtags

Post-Publication Notes

Copyright