Hello, geeks!

How is the Christmas holiday social media post scheduling hell going? I’m with you in spirit. We’ve all been there! 🥃 

Kicking things off this week… Which BIG Hollywood movie star just listed me as a ‘Close Friend’ on Instagram? 👉 Reveal who 👈

This has to be a mistake 😆. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is puzzled too.

Meanwhile, Is this Elon Musk’s most deluded tweet yet? 🥱

And a big thank you to BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri, who gave the internet a great new meme template 💀 Watch video clip here if you missed it.

Coincidently, BBC News turned my lounge into a mini studio this week. They filmed an interview with me for a new documentary about the death of Twitter, airing on BBC iPlayer in January 2024.

Good news… I resisted my intrusive internal thoughts to also flip the bird 🖕

DON’T MISS THIS… This is a very personal project for me. ❤️  

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

Geekout with our hottest picks of the week:

1. Meta Rolling Out Default End-to-End Encryption For Messenger [MORE PRIVACY] 

2. Meta Announced 20+ New AI Features For Facebook + Instagram [MORE AI] 

3. X Plans To Woo Small Businesses Following Big Advertiser Boycott [MORE DELUSION]

4. Meta Is Struggling To Boot Paedophiles Off Instagram And Facebook [MORE LAWSUITS]

5. TikTok Adds Comment Filtering Tools To Better Handle Israel/Hamas War Content [MORE PR]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

#Hashtags: the next generation

After a test in Australia over the past few weeks, Threads has rolled out its neat alternative to hashtags–topic tags–worldwide.

As a recap: you type a #, add a tag (which can include spaces) and then the # disappears and the tag becomes clickable, taking you to other discussion about that topic. To prevent ugly spam, you can only use one tag per post.

It’s an elegant solution and really well executed. It’s already being used by tech industry folk who are using the ‘Tech Threads’ tag as a way of finding interesting people to follow.

‘Father of the hashtag’ Chris Messina still wishes they were proper hashtags, though. He has previously made a good point that brands and events use hashtags as a visual way of signalling to audiences that they should use that tag.

But it turns out you can use hashtags with the feature if you know how.

And it’s worth remembering that hashtags, with a # at the start and no spaces between words, were a way to work around limitations on Twitter many years ago. They’re not necessarily the best way of doing searchable topics - we’re just used to them.

Will social media marketers simply evolve their approach to topics if Threads grows to become a major channel?

Meta’s Messenger is finally going all-in on encryption

This has been a long time coming. Meta is finally gearing up to complete a process that began way back in 2016: making Messenger end-to-end encrypted.

Meta had to rebuild much of Messenger’s underlying tech to make it all work. That means the encryption supports features like disappearing messages and editing messages.

But while it’s good to see more privacy for more messages, Instagram is now the outlier for Meta, in not having its messaging encrypted. Perhaps not coincidentally, Meta also announced this week it was axing cross-platform messaging between Messenger and Instagram.

Here’s hoping Instagram encryption is next, especially as it seems likely that any DMs feature for Threads will use Instagram’s messaging backbone.

Of course, not everyone wants more privacy. The UK government was quick to accuse Meta of making life easier for child abusers.

With that logic, maybe it’s time to ban all knives from sale to stop knife crime? They’ll just be eating with forks in Westminster.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Everything else you need to know from the past seven days…

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😆 LOL

And don’t miss… 😆

• YouTube vs. Users 💀

• Elon vs. Bob Iger on Who Wants to be a Millionaire

• LinkedIn feature to see what % of employees are single when applying for jobs

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🪧 BRANDS

When BBC newsreader Maryam Moshiri accidentally gave the middle finger live on air, it was a gift of a meme for reactive marketers.

Specsavers were quick off the mark

…as was the UK Conservative Party:

But that one backfired, with even some Conservative MPs calling for it to be taken down.

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📈 GOING VIRAL

TikTok has a hit with its filter that lets you see what A.I. thinks you’ll look like in years to come.

But freaking people out over how they’ll age misses out all the fun they’ll hopefully have along the way, so many users just find it depressing.

Meanwhile, footballer Erling Haaland became a meme after his on-pitch rage went viral:

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💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

When I’m quoted in the news, you’ll find it here:

The Telegraph asked for my insights into click farms and why they are so profitable:

Also:

• I spoke to the Evening Standard about the importance of social media during elections

• The Drum asked me about the dangerous position X’s CEO has put herself in

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👀 MY FAV READS

Hank Green had a great summary of the Elon Musk shitshow… over on Musk’s own platform. Read it in full here.

Also:

• The end of Elon Musk (this is very funny)

• The Rise of AI-Powered Stars: Big Money and Risks

• a16z’s big ideas for tech in 2024

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👀 TOP TRENDS OF 2023…

It’s that time of year when everyone likes to recap the year gone by. Here’s the best of what’s out there…

There was TikTok’s big trends report:

Also:

• Despite trend fatigue, these TikTok aesthetics ruled 2023

• Reddit trends 2023

• Tinder trends 2023

• Top YouTube creators and music videos 2023

• Giphy’s top GIF trends of 2023

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👀 … AND FOR 2024

It’s also the time of year when all the ‘predictions for next year’ pieces come out. There’s a lot of good stuff to read through…

Instagram broke down the trends it thinks Gen Z will be driving on the platform in 2024: when all the ‘year in review’ and

Also:

• Pinterest’s 2024 trend predictions

• TikTok’s 2024 ‘What’s Next’ report

• Adobe’s creative trends for 2024

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🎧 WORTH A LISTEN

Instagram has unexpectedly launched its own podcast. ‘Close Friends Only’ will interview celebrity users of the app.

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🛠️ TOP TOOL

For when you've had enough of Musk, this Chrome extension replaces mentions of "Elon Musk" with "Wannabe Stark” and hides images of Elon.

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😮 WTF?!

Meta has filed a patent application for a mind reader…Or as the company describes it, an in-ear “spectroscopy” for “cognitive load estimation.”

To put it simply, this uses an in-ear device to measure a user’s brain signals to better understand a user’s brain activity.

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🤦 FAIL

When your craving for YouTube views gets you send to prison…

Also:

• Some Bluesky users aren’t keen on their posts being available on the public web, so the platform will now offer an opt-out. Having seen some of the stuff on Bluesky, I’m not surprised some users want to keep it off the web.

• A Reddit bug let slurs get added to links

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🪲 BUGGING OUT

This weird Instagram bug led to videos that have been on the platform for years losing their sound…

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🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

I doubt many people even knew Facebook did this, but now it’s on the way to the big social media cemetery in the sky…

Also:

• Meta is removing the ability to see phone notifications on your Quest

• Already mentioned above, but Messenger <> Instagram messaging is being killed off

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🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

All the ways A.I. is transforming social media:

The US-only Meta AI chatbot can now generate images and interact with Reels:

• Meta has launched its AI characters across its apps in the US, with support for Bing Search and a better memory

• Meta has launched a standalone A.I.-powered image generator

• X’s Grok chatbot is rolling out to paying subscribers across the US

• ByteDance is working on a custom chatbot builder

• Meta's latest AI suite makes speech translation more seamless and expressive

• Bumble for Friends has rolled out AI-generated icebreakers

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

1.1 billion

The number of Instagram and Facebook photos Meta’s new standalone image generator was trained on

Also:

• Grand Theft Auto VI’s reveal video is already the most viewed video game reveal on YouTube, having reached 90,421,491 views in 24 hours

• Hank Green’s earnings from Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts in the past 30 days

• Gen Z women spend more on TikTok

• X still gets about 100 times more web traffic than Threads worldwide and has more than 11 times more MAUs of its mobile apps in the U.S.

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📈 CHARTED

• The average engagement rates on top social media platforms for 13 industries

• Threads is outpacing X in downloads right now

• A list of companies who pulled their ads from X

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• Meta’s Oversight Board is fast-tracking two cases about Israel-Hamas war content, the first time it has expedited cases. [Engadget]

• The US government has stopped sharing information with Meta about covert foreign influence operations on its platforms. [ReadWrite]

• Threads downloads are picking up pace, with India a key growth market. [TechCrunch]

• …but some news publishers are hesitating to invest in a Threads presence. [Digiday $$$]

• Facebook and Instagram steer predators to children, New Mexico’s Attorney General has alleged in a lawsuit. [Wall Street Journal $$$]

• The EU has told Meta it must clarify measures against child sexual abuse by 22 December. [TechCrunch]

• A Spanish media association has filed a $598 million lawsuit against Meta, citing unfair competition in the advertising market. [Reuters $$$]

• Mark Zuckerberg has sold his first Meta shares in 2 years after a 172% surge in the stock price. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Meta and IBM have created an industrywide A.I. alliance of 40+ companies to share technology. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Meta has teased a render of an advanced 'Mirror Lake' headset it says is "practical to build now". [Upload VR]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook has added smart suggestions for approving and rejecting posts in Groups. [@MattNavarra]

• Facebook now lets you change your broadcast channel image. [@theahmedghanem]

• Facebook is testing showing Memories as Stories. [@theahmedghanem]

Instagram:

• Instagram has added more options to reuse or remix content. [@jonahmanzano]

• Instagram now reveals accounts blocked by other accounts in the Account Center, giving you the option to block them as well. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram is still working on "Your Space" feature, now renamed ‘Flipside’. [@MattNavarra]

• Instagram now lets you decide whether your posts can be featured in Shops or not. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram is working on an improved Quiet Mode. [@alex193a]

• Instagram now celebrates the day you joined by showing a "look back" Story. [@theahmedghanem]

Threads:

• A bunch of big Threads updates are hinted at in new app code. [@datadrivenmd]

• Hints of Threads trending topics have been spotted in the wild. [@dallasmavsthreads]

• Threads has changed the design of the ‘More replies’ section. [@chris]

• Threads in testing a feature that suggests similar posts to posts that you have liked. [@theahmedghanem]

• Threads is working on a profile preview card. [@datadrivenmd]

• Threads now supports creating polls on the web. [@threads]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp’s new chat filter is rolling out to more users. [@theahmedghanem]

• WhatsApp may soon allow sharing status updates to Instagram. [Android Police]

• WhatsApp is working on a username-based search feature. [Android Police]

• WhatsApp could soon support message forwarding to Channels. [Android Police]

• WhatsApp could bring HD media sharing to status updates. [WABetaInfo]

The rest: Creator Studio / Adtech / Quest and more:

• Meta Quest 3 has a bunch of new features in its latest update. [Mashable]

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• Elon Musk drove a 9,500% increase in Pizzagate content following his posts reviving the conspiracy theory. [Rolling Stone]

• X has pitched advertisers on audience reach opportunities in so-called ‘Q5’. [Social Media Today]

• Walmart is the latest big brand to pull its ads from X. [Reuters $$$]

• X’s cheaper ads are an opportunity for some businesses. [Digiday $$$]

• X is now licensed for payment processing in a dozen US states. [TechCrunch]

• Elon Musk has asked the US Supreme Court to undo the SEC’s 'Twitter sitter' agreement, reached after he misled investors about taking Tesla private. [CNBC]

• A former Twitter security exec has sued X for wrongful termination and retaliation. [CNBC]

• A Swiss music rights group has sued X for copyright infringement. [TorrentFreak]

• Walmart is the latest company to stop advertising on Elon Musk’s X. [Reuters $$$]

• X is investigating slow performance on Google Pixel phones. [9to5Google]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

• How to help make a post go viral on X: An in-depth analysis. [Buffer blog]

New features and tests:

• X now supports expanded bios for paying subscribers. [@jonahmanzano]

• X now lets users broadcast community posts to all followers. [TechCrunch]

• X could be working on running ads on creator's videos, as an additional route for creator monetization. [@xDaily]

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• TikTok has teamed up with an Indonesian ecommerce company to save the app’s shopping presence in the country. [Bloomberg $$$]

• ByteDance has urged EU judges to suspend a decision by regulators to force TikTok to comply with new digital antitrust rules. [Bloomberg $$$]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

• How to make a successful TikTok ad with 5 key elements. [Business Insider $$$]

• 4 TikTok analytics tools that do the math for you. [Hootsuite]

New features and tests:

• TikTok now lets you choose whether to let you videos appear in the 'Inspiration' section within the Creator Center. [@theahmedghanem]

• TikTok is testing an expanded view for the post caption box. [@theahmedghanem]

• TikTok has added a live streaming option called ‘Activities’, that perhaps isn’t ready yet. [@jonahmanzano]

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• Publishers are turning to Reddit in place of X, but it’s risky. [Washington Post $$$]

• Twitch will shut down in South Korea over ‘prohibitively expensive’ network fees. [TechCrunch]

• Channel 4 and Snapchat have extended and enhanced their partnership with ‘Snap-first’ programming. [@MattNavarra]

• Liking toxic social media posts prompts more—and more hateful—messages. [Fast Company]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

• 11 startups helping creators build and make money from communities, from Kajabi to Circle. [Business Insider $$$]

• How 13 news outlets are using LinkedIn newsletters. [NiemanLab]

• The age of virtual influencers is coming, bringing a range of new considerations for brands. [Social Media Today]

• LinkedIn has launched a “Guide to Creating” to provide more tips for members. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

• LinkedIn is still working on a "Catch Up" tab that shows you updates from your network. [@owjinima]

• Reddit has launched new Conversation Placement ad formats. [Search Engine Land]

• Snapchat has partnered with E.l.f. Cosmetics to brings lipstick to Bitmojis. [Adweek $$$]

• Snapchat has redesigned the UI for Snapchat+. [@jonahmanzano]

• Mammoth is a new app offering a simpler Mastodon experience. [The Verge]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

• Why TikTok is dangerously good at making you spend money

• Gambling, risky pranks and lucrative contracts: Inside the streaming site Kick

• How an unfiltered tween became a social media sensation

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😳 AND FINALLY…

Everyone's talking about boomers, millennials, and Gen Zers, but Gen X is often left out of the conversation. Many Gen Xers say they like it this way, and they just want to be left alone. 😆

…they're also warning other generations not to come at them because they can win any battle 😮

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

Your Geekout social media news download is completed. 💯 ✅

A quick reminder, Geekout will be taking its annual Christmas holiday break soon. 🎄🎅🏻

The last edition of Geekout for 2023 will be on Friday 22 December.

Geekout will return for a BUMPER New Year’s edition on Friday 12th January 2024.

Goodbye, Geeks! 🖕 

(my intrusive thoughts got the better of me)

p.s. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant