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Hello, geeks!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Geekout.

Grab a drink. Get comfy. I’m going to get you up to speed on EVERYTHING new in social media land this week.

But first… This is so WILD! 👇😮

You can now listen to Geekout Newsletter as a speedy 6-minute podcast…

…But it’s generated and hosted ENTIRELY by two AI presenters. | LISTEN HERE! 🤯 🔊

I created it using Google’s new NotebookLM AI tool that went viral this week.

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. Meta faces data limits on its EU ad business after top EU court ruling [RESTRICTING]

3. Meta finally admits it may train its AI on any image you ask Ray-Ban Meta AI to analyse [AI-SPYING]

4. EU regulator requests info from YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok on content algorithms [AI-PROBING]

5. Snap employees were aware of app’s child safety issues, lawsuit alleges [ENDANGERING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

Reddit’s days of mod power are gone

If you’re old (let’s say experienced!) enough to remember what social media was like 15 years ago, you’ll know how idealistic a lot of it was.

Social media would level the playing field for speech and give silenced communities a voice! Yes, we’d have to deal with some ads, but the power of community would more than make up for that!

Of course, it didn’t turn out like that for lots of reasons. In many cases, it was to be expected. Meta, for example, was always a business that would cram as many ads into its users would tolerate to keep the shareholders happy.

But one platform where the ideals of the past have faded away more starkly–and quickly–than the rest is Reddit.

Reddit held onto its principles of moderator power for far longer than most other companies would. So you could forgive mods on the platform (all unpaid volunteers) for thinking it would always be that way.

The clash last year where moderators protested agains management’s moves to ramp up API prices, killing third-party Reddit clients and forcing users into its own app, where it could control advertising.

Twitter did a similar thing years ago, but it never pretended the users were in control of the platform. But the shift at Reddit was jarring because the users really did feel like the platform was theirs.

Reddit’s move this week to force mods to ask permission to take their subreddits private is pretty much essential from a business point of view. Its big deal with Google, and its recently ramped-up ad initiatives, mean it needs as much publicly available content as possible. If popular content is suddenly hidden, that hurts the company’s bottom line… and its share price.

But for users, its just another slice of those early social media ideals that have faded away for good.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

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

• TikTok is testing AI portrait and AI drawing with more users

• Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses got new AI-powered features, like voice messages and reminders

• ByteDance has launched a web scraper that's gobbling up the world’s online data 25-times faster than OpenAI

• Pinterest has rolled out generative AI tools for product imagery to advertisers

• Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements updated with new AI features

💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I spoke to Business Insider about Meta’s AI strategy and the risk it’s taking dropping AI slop into your feed:

Also:

• Geekout is one of Cision’s 15 Best Media & Journalism Newsletters Every PR Should Subscribe To 🙌

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😆 LOL

…and here’s a perfect summary of Elon Musk’s battle with the Brazilian courts by Ryan Broderick:

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🌡️ VIRAL

This SHOCKING conversation between two AI-generated voices went viral this week…

BUT… it was all faked using a feature Google recently added to its Notebook LM app, as I mentioned at this start of the newsletter.

I’ve yet to see a ‘shock-horror, AI becomes self-aware and goes crazy’ example that’s real. Be careful out there!

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

Okay Linda, whatever you say…

Also:

• Instagram chief Adam Mosseri says a ‘Following’ feed option won’t work

• Telegram CEO Pavel Durov insists not much is changing after his stay in a French jail. “In reality, little has changed”.

• Meta CTO Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth has publicly apologised to Palmer Luckey over comments he made earlier this year about his firing.

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📣 PSA

Instagram boss Adam Mosseri confirmed that using third-party publishing editing tools will NOT impact reach, but watermarks DO. So, now you know…

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👀 MY FAV READS

A good dive into how the Democrats finally made memes work for them…

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👌 PRO TIPS

Up your Instagram game with Meta’s new official Education Hub for creators…

Also:

• 6 psychological techniques to help you write social media hooks

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🛠️ TOP TOOLS

As former Twitter users spread out to different platforms, reaching them all can be a pain, but Croissant is here to help.

You can post to Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon all from one place:

Also worth checking out:

• Video editing app Captions has launched an AI-powered social media manager for sites

• Find the perfect intro for your next social video: check out the Transitional Hooks Library for Instagram Reels and TikTok Videos

• 20 Instagram story apps for better engagement in 2024

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😮 WTF?!

Yikes: “The technology, which marries Meta’s smart Ray Ban glasses with the facial recognition service Pimeyes and some other tools, lets someone automatically go from face, to name, to phone number, and home address.”

BUT: keep scrolling before you freak out too much…

Meta’s Andy Stone wants to make sure you don’t blame the glasses:

Also WTF:

• YouTube's latest ploy to force ads down your throat involves hiding the Skip button

• TikTok bad actors harness AI to reanimate Hitler's hate

• Facebook is being flooded with gross AI-generated images of Hurricane Helene devastation

• YouTube’s Subscriber Milestone Awards (‘Play buttons’) have been hit by ‘Shrinkflation’, and some creators happy about it

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🤦 FAIL

Social media managers… The fear is real.

We’ve all been there…

Also:

• Meta fined $102 million for storing passwords in plain text 🤦‍♂️

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💡 NEW FEATURE SPOTLIGHT

TikTok’s NEW ‘Flip Stories’ add a fun new dimension to Stories on the platform.

“Flip Stories allow users to post pictures to their stories with a twist.

“People who view their stories will be able to press and hold the picture to reveal hidden content underneath.”

“The person who posted the TikTok flip story will be able to see who viewed the hidden content.”

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

• Los Angeles Football Club needs a Social Media Manager [Los Angeles, CA, USA]

• The New York Post is looking for a Director, Sports Social Media [New York City, NY, USA]

• Shelter is hiring a Social Media Officer [London or hybrid, UK]

• The NSPCC wants a Social Media Officer [UK]

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

$9.4 BILLION

– The current estimated value of Elon Musk’s X, which you’ll remember he bought for $44 billion. Ouch!

• Facebook says it has paid content creators $2 billion this year 

• TikTok: A quarter of indie artists now put their music straight on TikTok

• Twitter / X: Women of colour running for Congress are attacked disproportionately on X, a report has found

• U.S. Elections: 28% of US creators have been approached by a political organisation over the course of the current US election period

• Gen Z is shopping more on Snapchat than TikTok or Instagram, a study has shown

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📈 CHARTED

Influencers are becoming a go-to authority for most Gen-Zers

• Elon Musk: 5 days with Elon Musk on X in charts: Deepfakes, falsehoods and lots of memes

• Social Video: U.S. consumers are okay with longer social video ads

• Instagram loses value in the eyes of publishers

• Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has jumped sixfold in the past two years

• Social ad spending skews toward low-consideration products

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• Meta and Australian authorities are partnering to crack down on ‘celeb bait’ scams. [Fast Company $$$]

• Meta has been hit with a new author copyright lawsuit over AI training. [Reuters $$$]

• WhatsApp and Cloudflare are collaborating to strengthen the security of end-to-end encrypted messages. [WABetaInfo]

• Meta says it will expand production of mixed reality headsets in Vietnam. [Reuters $$$]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook added a new in-app ad goal, “Get more visits” for users with Professional Mode enabled. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook Marketplace now lets you promote listings directly from the Quick Actions menu. [@theahmedghanem]

Instagram:

• Instagram is now showing single image posts in the Reels tab. [@oncescuradu]

• Instagram has added an EA Sports FC 25 chat theme. [@oncescuradu]

• Instagram has been spotted offering new icons in the Reels editor. [@prettylittlemarketer]

• Threads views are now showing in Instagram notifications. [@oncescuradu]

Messenger:

• You can now pin broadcast channels on Messenger. [@jonahmanzano]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp is testing an event feature for community announcement groups. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is working on a reminder notification feature for status updates. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to present media messages directly in the chat screen. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is testing a new privacy option to enable or disable ‘Camera Effects’ for photos, videos, and video calls. [@varma.adwaith]

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

• Meta Quest's POV video casting feature could get WhatsApp support soon. [Road to VR]

• New Meta avatars are now available in Horizon Worlds, Home, Workrooms, and SDK. [Upload VR]

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• X has lost a court fight in Australia, as it tried to avoid a fine for failing to cooperate with regulators. [Reuters $$$]

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• Texas has sued TikTok for allegedly violating children's privacy. [Reuters $$$]

• TikTok's Search Ads might live, but advertisers aren't ready to reallocate those Google dollars. [DigiDay]

• TikTok could soon be fined in the EU over data transfers to China. [The Information $$$]

• Popular TikTok creator Mr Prada has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated criminal damage to property, resisting an officer and unauthorised use of a motor vehicle. [NBC News]

New features and tests:

• TikTok has added two new options to manage your followers: mute their posts if you’re following them and to remove them. [@theahmedghanem]

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• MrBeast has acquired a startup aiming to be the creator economy's LinkedIn. [Business Insider]

• YouTube has been sued by Arkansas for allegedly fuelling a mental health crisis. [Fast Company]

• Social influencers say opaque pay deals create unfair disparity. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Gen Z is turning to Twitch for political commentary. [Fast Company $$$]

• New South Wales police in Australia have been banned from using all encrypted messaging apps and social media, due to concerns over record-keeping rules. [The Guardian]

• Russia-paid influencers and trolls are stepping up efforts to influence the US election. [Washington Post $$$]

• Russia has fined Discord for failing to restrict access to banned information. [Reuters $$$]

New features and tests:

• Amazon has added a content scheduling feature for the Amazon Influencer Program. [@lindseygamble_]

• Google Search now recognises Creators as experts. [Search Engine Land]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

• X could prove to be worth more than $44 billion to Musk and his companies

• Some app makers worry that a subtle change to the iPhone’s contact-sharing permissions could make it hard for them to get the fast growth they need to compete.

• Has social media fuelled a teen-suicide crisis?

• Inside two years of turmoil at big tech's anti-terrorism group

• Politics edges deeper into livestreams

• An interview with WhatsApp product director Alice Newton-Rex on e2e encryption, spotting misinformation, and more

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😳 AND FINALLY…

James Blunt is back with some more pure social media perfection…

He asked people on X what he should change his name to. And it went about as well as you'd imagine…

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

…And on that blunt end note. You have completed this week’s Geekout.

Given it’s length, you can chalk that up as an achievement! ✅

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Right… I’m heading off to catch up on the latest episode of Married at First Sight (MAFS).

A guilty pleasure. I’m so addicted to watching the meltdown of other people’s relationships. Is that bad?

Goodbye, geeks!

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