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Hello, geeks!

This week’s Geekout is very app-etizing. 📱

Meta is gearing up to drop TWO new apps — one to take on TikTok, the other to rival ChatGPT. Big moves.

Meanwhile…

Creators and social media managers are falling for fake news about TikTok’s algorithm. (Don't be one of them.)

The $240,000-a-year social media manager job that’s making waves.

Thinking about going freelance? I shared my best no-BS advice for social media pros.

All of that… plus everything else new in social this week, coming up in a moment.

__________

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TikTok’s Secret? Debunked ❌

Doing the rounds online this week, this viral screenshot claims to reveal TikTok’s "secret" algorithm ranking system — complete with a points-based formula for how videos get reach.

But here’s the truth: It’s almost certainly fake. AI-generated, to be exact.

🔍 Why?

• The formatting doesn’t match internal TikTok docs, according to ex-TikTok staffer Beth Thomas.

• Several people spotted that it looks suspiciously like an output from Perplexity AI.

Bottom line? TikTok’s algorithm secrets remain just that… secrets. 🤐

__________

Also, did you see?

📹 TOP TIP: Thinking about going freelance? My best advice for social media managers. [VIDEO]

💰 HOW MUCH?! OpenAI is hiring a social manager—for a jaw-dropping salary🤯

🎁 FREE GIFT for SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS: Scroll to the bottom of this week’s Geekout for a FREE gift from me. Be quick… Only 25 available 👇

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

Geekout’s pick of the hottest headlines in social this week:

2. Apple introduces an age verification system for apps [POLICING]

3. Elon Musk’s Grok AI blocked results saying Musk and Trump “spread misinformation” [ELON-MUSKING]

4. Meta is firing about 20 employees for leaking [INTIMIDATING]

5. Meta plans to release a standalone Meta AI app [AI APP-ETIZING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

Apple’s surprise move might make child safety much easier

Who should protect kids from the dangers of social media? If you’re a company like Meta, you probably think that responsibility should be passed on to app stores, because it’s a stressful burden (with exposure to legal risks) if you do it yourself.

While it might not seem like app stores would want that duty, Apple made a surprise move yesterday by introducing a new, better way of making sure children can only download age-appropriate apps:

The approach here is actually a division of labour. Apps will set their own age ratings, and Apple will essentially enforce them by making only age-appropriate apps available to kids.

This should–in theory–work out well for parents, Apple, and developers alike.

And while developers are in control of their own age ratings, it does allow for an interesting future in which governments could force apps into a particular age classification, which could be enforced far more easily than it could in the past.

In a world where governments are increasingly keen to limit young people’s access to social media, lawmakers will be paying attention.

All in all, promising news. The pressure will be now on Google to follow suit.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta / Facebook 👥

• Meta revealed its next generation, experimental Aria smart glasses, with heart rate sensors and longer 8-hour battery life 👓

• Court filings have revealed how Meta staff discussed using copyright-controlled content to train AI

• Facebook Channels are providing a small but engaged audience for news publishers

• Meta Business Suite app now lets you add links to your social media profiles

• Facebook now lets you snooze suggested Stories, such as music, recaps and more

• Meta’s Oversight Board will weigh in on Meta’s new hate speech policies

• Facebook is boosting false viral content as it drops fact-checking

• Facebook has added an option to automatically share the first two posts you publish each day to your broadcast channel

• Meta’s mixed and virtual reality education offering is now available to all

__________

Instagram ✨ / Messenger ⚡️

• Messenger has officially changed its app logo back to its OG Facebook blue 🔵📱

• Instagram appears to have delayed the launch of its CapCut-alternative, Edits, from the 13th to the 31st of March

• Instagram says its ranking and recommendation algorithm update to help creators of all sizes break through, is now fully launched

• Instagram has revealed that how the algorithm weights watch time. It isn’t just % of full video viewed, but also number of seconds viewed

• Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says saving posts as drafts does NOT affect their reach (distribution)

• Instagram is developing the ability to export chats

• Instagram is working on an option to create Community Chats

• Instagram is building the ability to create music playlists in chats

• Instagram is highlighting that Reels created using its new Edits app will be optimised for high-quality playback

• Instagram is testing two new feeds for suggested content, “Because you follow” and “Instagram Suggested”

__________

WhatsApp 💬

• WhatsApp is working on a feature to edit sticker photos for status updates ✂️

• WhatsApp might soon offer more granular notification controls for its home screen badge

• WhatsApp is working on a feature to display channel update viewers on the web client

• WhatsApp is testing a redesigned composer interface for text status updates

__________

Twitter (‘X’) 🤡

• The CEO of ad giant WPP says clients are returning to X in the wake of the US election result 💰

• Ex-Twitter workers have won severance over the way they were laid off

• X is betting big on original content with new finance show from a crypto investor

• Italy has extended a controversial tax probe to X

• A UK MP has grilled an X official over extreme messages after being told to 'swing on a gibbet'

• A Canadian watchdog is probing X's use of personal data in AI models' training

__________

YouTube 📺

• YouTube now has more than 1 billion monthly viewers of podcast content 🎙️

• YouTube is making mid-roll ads less annoying by inserting them in more natural places like pauses or transitions, reducing interruptions

• YouTube ruled out a return to funding original productions

• YouTube is testing an option to buy additional Hype points

• YouTube now labels music videos in feed with a musical note.

__________

TikTok 📱

• TikTok revamped its desktop platform to challenge YouTube, featuring a new modular layout, refreshed ‘For You’ feed, a new Explore tab, and a floating player 💻

• … Which now lets gamers livestream in landscape view

• TikTok is replacing Marketplace with TikTok One, a broader solution with AI tools, set to launch on April 1, 2025

• Who might buy TikTok in the US? Here’s an up-to-date list of the contenders

• TikTok launched a new in-app Oscars 2025 Hub

• A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against TikTok and YouTube over “choking challenge” videos

• TikTok is introducing a queue feature for subscribers

• TikTok is now organising song searches through a drop-down menu-like feature.

• TikTok is testing a new profile page design, with the name displayed at the bottom of the profile picture

__________

LinkedIn / Snapchat / Twitch 💼

• LinkedIn now shows analytics for comments on posts [a new metric for social media managers to obsess over!] 💬

• LinkedIn redesigned the Activity section to display photos and video posts much larger in this section

• LinkedIn is testing a new ‘My Network’ tab, for a feed of updates from your connections only

• LinkedIn is testing removing the sort filter for your feed

• LinkedIn is rolling out a games widget that puts word and logic puzzles just a tap away from your home screen.

• Snapchat launched new brand safety measures with ad placement control tiers

• Twitch partnered with StreamElements for a new sponsorship programme

• Twitch is letting more streamers access its monetisation tools

__________

🔥 Want to see more hot NEW features spotted in the wild this week?

Just head to the ‘More news’ section below!

.

🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

The newest social media A.I. features spotted this week:

Also spotted this week 👀

• Instagram now lets you generate AI images directly from your story.

• Meta plans to release a standalone Meta AI app in Q2 this year, with a paid subscription for advanced features

• WhatsApp is working on a new widget feature for accessing the Meta AI chatbot

• YouTube for Android TV now has a 'dubbed' tag for AI translated audio

• YouTube is adding AI audio replacement options

• X has added new AI-powered ad generation tools for marketers

• X now lets iOS users upload spreadsheets and documents for Grok AI.

• Meta AI has arrived in the Middle East and Africa with support for Arabic

• X.ai’s Grok has added a voice mode

• CapCut has added a new feature for exporting in AI Ultra HD

.

💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I spoke to The Information about Meta’s plans to spin out a new dedicated Reels app:

.

😆 LOL

.

🌡️ VIRAL

This TikToker’s “healthy” lifestyle had people… puzzled at best, if not outright laughing.🤔🤣

Also:

• Backlash as Chinese influencer claims to earn $41,000 a day doing nothing

• Viral photo makes ‘Puppy Mountain’ in China an instant sensation

.

🪧 BRANDS

After Duolingo milked an attention cycle with his ‘death’, Duo is back… because of course he is. 🔥

"Y'all really think I'd let a Cybertruck take me out?"

For more, read Duolingo’s TikTok mastermind on its ‘unhinged’ social strategy and killing its mascot.

Also:

• What Lush learned from three years of being mostly offline

.

🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“You look like a highschooler going undercover as another highschooler with fewer friends”

- John Oliver describes Mark Zuckerberg (read more about why here)

Also overheard this week:

• “Twitter added far more features with fewer people” 
  – Elon Musk this week seemingly forgot he rebranded Twitter

• “We expect there will be more”
  – Meta after firing 20 staff for leaking news

• “[It’s] impossible to do fact-checking at scale” 
  – Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian talks moderation

• “Someone like Jeffrey Epstein had to create his own private paedophile island… Now, these monsters, all they have to do is go on to set up a group on Facebook Messenger." 
  – British MP Paul Waugh is no fan of Messenger

• “The social media companies got more power over more speech than any institution in history”
  – New US FCC chair, Brendan Carr, is on the warpath

.

📺 MUST WATCH

Warning: this is absolutely NOT safe for work. 🤬

As Garbage Day explained:

“Last week, one of the biggest songs on iTunes was an (Australian-accented) robot voice reading a list of homophobic slurs and slang…

“The song started with a Tumblr post from last year, where multiple users shared stories about human resources training courses that used homophobic slurs in the context of “what not to say.” A user named bigfoots-biggest-fan saw the post last month and completed the dance remix on January 20th.”

It’s all in the spirit of edgy satire, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if you blast this in the office…

.

👀 MY FAV READS

Given the way right-wing American social media has been going for a decade or more, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the White House’s new social strategy has more in common with 4chan than with what Biden’s team used to do 😳

.

😮 WTF?!

If you saw this doing the rounds earlier this week, I hope you had a good time bleaching your eyes afterwards… 😱

Also this week 👀

• Trump faced a Truth Social backlash over insane AI video of Gaza with topless Netanyahu and bearded bellydancers. The Middle East crisis has never looked so ridiculous.

.

🤦 FAIL

More fails 👀

• Meta confirms Instagram issue that's flooding users with violent and sexual Reels

• Pinterest is being strangled by AI slop

.

📲 NEW APPS

Adobe Photoshop is an essential tool for many a social media pro. 🎨

And now you can have a decent version of it on your iPhone, with a lot of the design, editing, and generative AI tools found in the desktop version…

More apps

• Flashes is ‘Instagram for Bluesky’

• Yope is sparking GenZ interest with an Instagram-like app for private groups

• Noosphere is a TikTok-like app that will charge less than $20 a month to users in exchange for unlimited access to content produced by independent journalists

• Creator commerce app LTK has announced an update to make it more social.

.

👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

Drinks giant Pepsico is hiring a Senior Director - Head of Social Media Strategy, Global Communications. [Purchase, NY, USA]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• Yahoo Finance is recruiting a Social Video Producer [New York City, NY, USA]

• British Cycling is looking for a Social Media Officer [Manchester, UK]

• Macmillan Cancer Support needs a Senior Social Media Manager [London, UK]

.

🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

RIP TikTok Marketplace. Its replacement is coming this spring… ❌

Also:

• Meta has abandoned its in-headset building tool for 'Horizon Worlds'

.

👌 PRO TIPS

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• How the LinkedIn algorithm works in 2025

• TikTok has shared new insights into the ROI of short- and long-term- ad campaigns

• What it takes to get paid by YouTube, TikTok and other social platforms in 2025

• Snapchat has shared insights into effective branded content approaches

• Meta has provided insights into game marketing and evolving promotional approaches

• TikTok has shared insights into the rise of ecommerce in the app

.

📊 SOCIAL STATS

$6 BILLION

- TikTok (with its Chinese version Douyin) has become the first app to reach this figure in annual consumer spending 💰

Even more social stats: 📈

• BEAST MODE: YouTube star MrBeast is raising money for his company at a $5 billion valuation

• FACEBOOK FAKES: Fake accounts represented approximately 3% of worldwide monthly active users on Facebook during Q4 2024

• PRODUCT DISCOVERY: Facebook is the most popular platform with 54% of shoppers preferring it

• ESSENTIAL STATS: 35+ Facebook statistics every marketer needs to know in 2025

• GROKKED UP: Daily active users for Grok’s standalone US app soared more than 260% last week, seemingly driven by interest in the new Grok 3 model

• LINKEDIN STYLE?: 85% of luxury brands have turned to the professional social network to reach those with money to spend

• TIKTOK AD POWER: 75% of kids ask their parents to buy something after seeing it in an ad on YouTube

• TIKTOK PROMOS: 29% of music fans indicated that they’re more likely to buy a product if it’s featured alongside a song they like.

.

📈 CHARTED

YOUTUBE vs. NETFLIX: Some context on the size of YouTube’s ad business 🤯

More charted social insights spotted this week: 👀.

• U.S. TEENS: The platforms they prefer in 2025

• FACEBOOK vs INSTAGRAM 1: The social platform marketers prefer to use in 2025 vs. 2024

• FACEBOOK vs INSTAGRAM 2: The platform marketers prefer for driving conversions and branding in 2025

• X ADS: X ad revenues, charted

• TIKTOK: U.S adult TikTok users follow a mix of more and less popular creators [new study]

• HOT ON TIKTOK: The most popular creators tend to publish longer posts + post more often

• YOUTUBE MARKETING: 7 charts reveal why YouTube is a hot marketing channel in 2025

.

• A US House panel has subpoenaed Meta and other tech giants over 'foreign censorship' of speech. [Reuters $$$]

• Comedian John Oliver is trolling Meta with a new, memorably-named website. [@MattNavarra]

• Meta must face a lawsuit claiming it prefers cheaper foreign workers. [Reuters $$$]

• Italy's PM Meloni met Meta’s Joel Kaplan exec to discuss investments in the country. [Reuters $$$]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook now lets you search the gallery. [@oncescuradu]

Instagram:

• Instagram has moved the Camera button from the top navigation bar to the Gallery section” (Posts, Stories, Reels). [@oncescuradu]

• Instagram is testing a hyperlink color with a more purplish hue. [@theahmedghanem]

• Meta has added a new chat theme for Messenger and Instagram DMs, “Tate McRae”. [@oncescuradu]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp looks set to introduce faster in-app payments in India. [Android Authority]

• WhatsApp is working on a feature to manage privacy settings for profile links. [@WABetaInfo]

.

• TikTok’s top music exec is leaving the company. [The Information $$$]

New features and tests:

• TikTok has added a new label for search queries, “Your interests”. [@oncescuradu]

.

💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• 9 US states are proposing to make Apple and Google responsible for age verification, instead of developers like social platforms. [9to5Mac]

• OpenAI has uncovered evidence of AI-powered Chinese surveillance tool. [New York Times $$$]

• Social media users are ‘fearmongering’ to promote health tests with limited evidence, a study found. [The Guardian]

• Tumblr is financially backing Iconfactory’s Tapesty open social web timeline app. [TechCrunch]

• Telegram was fined nearly $1m by Australian watchdog for delay in reporting about terrorism and child abuse material. [The Guardian]

• Ofcom is calling on tech companies to step up action against ‘revenge porn’. [The Guardian]

New features and tests:

• Opera has added Discord, Slack, and Bluesky to its browser sidebar. [MacRumors]

.

📰 WEEKEND READS

Geekout’s pick of the best longer reads to sink into over the weekend:

Why it's difficult to find matches, whether in your career or love life in 2025… ❤️ 💼

More great weekend reads:

• White House social media Trump-style: bad taste, sycophancy and trolling

• How 12 Americans see life after watching a lot of TikTok

• Inside the Telegram groups doxing women for their Facebook posts

• How the Oscars campaign for ‘Emilia Pérez’ fell apart—and what marketing pros can learn from it

.

😳 AND FINALLY…

Next time someone tells you that you need to ‘go outside and touch grass’…

…Make sure you fire up this app! 📱

.

📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

You’ve reached the end of this week’s Geekout.

If you made it this far, you have far too much free time on your hands! 😁

__________

Before you go… A gift from me to you…🎁

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__________

Right folks, time to head out. Have a great weekend, whatever you’ve got planned.

Goodbye, geeks

P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant