Hello, geeksā¦
Iām back from vacation (Cyprus). The island didnāt set fire, but man-alive, heatwaves suck (42c!)
A quick bit of BREAKING TikTok news before we get startedā¦
Soā¦ I sure did pick a crazy week to take a break. I come back to find the Twitter Bird is dead. And a weird āXā has appeared on my phone. Elmo has been busy.
But this super-weird Twitter app glitch on my iPhone made me smile
I also spotted the Zuck vs. Elmo cage fight is off. Iād have paid good money to tune in to that.
But good news, Twitter (I refuse to call it X) is going to start paying me for my tweets. If I get more than a couple of hundred bucks, I'll be surprised.
DONāT MISSā¦
I want to pay it forward and help you in your career. No strings attached. š
š§³ FREE Social Media Career Boost Sessions š§³Ā
Early in my social media career, an amazing woman called Emer Coleman gave me some incredibly useful advice. Without her support, I may never have achieved my full potential.
I always said I wanted to pay it forward and be someone else's āEmerā in their career journeyā¦ Soā¦
Iāve created 20 FREE 15-Minute Social Media Career Boost slots in my schedule next week (w.c. 7 Aug).
I will answer your social media career questions or dilemmas. Or maybe help you overcome a challenge you're facing in taking your career to the next level.
š„Ā Book a Boost Session SlotĀ (Be quickā¦ Only 20 slots available).
Alrighty thenā¦ Letās get into it. These were the hottest headlines in social from the past few weeks:
š„Ā GEEKOUT HOT 5
Elon Musk Rebrands Twitter to āXā and Kills Bird Logo [BYE BYE BIRDIE]
Meta To Start Asking EU Usersā Permission Before Hitting Them With Personalized Ads [REGULATION WORKS]
Threads Usage Falls to New Lows As Retention Issues Grow [DEAD THREADS]
Metaās Ray Ban Smart Glasses Fail to Catch On [EYE SPY PROBLEMS]
Meta Study Claims Algorithms Donāt Influence Political Opinion [NEW RESEARCH]
Meta / Threads
Meta plans to launch A.I. chatbots with personalities as soon as September (what could possibly go wrong)ā¦ Meta is rebooting Horizon Worlds to make it something people actually want to use (Iām not optimistic about this one)ā¦ Meta made good its threats and began removing news in Canadaā¦
Threads for the web is in the works (really hope this lands soon)ā¦ Threads now lets you keep track of your Likes and organise your Following tabā¦ Threads could soon offer media quality settings.
Instagram / WhatsApp
Instagram is working on a āStandoutsā feature to show recent highlights from your time on the appā¦ Instagram now auto-plays carousels of 3 or more itemsā¦ Instagram is making it harder for spammers to DM youā¦ Instagram may soon add a āsavedā tab to your profile.
WhatsApp is testing a new warning screen to help you reduce spamā¦ WhatsApp wants to make it quicker + easier to add people to new group chatsā¦ And WhatsApp launched a new Video Messages feature (and you thought long voice notes sucked)
š„ 700+ VIP SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS ā¤ļø GEEKOUT PRO
Real-Time Social Media News Alerts
Exclusive Beta Invites to New Apps
VIP Members-Only Chat Channels
šĀ ACCESS GEEKOUT PRO TODAY
Twitter (āXā)
Twitter warned companies they could lose verification if they donāt buy ads (oh elon)ā¦ X is now letting Blue subscribers hide their verification checkmark of shameā¦ X let more creators (including me!) into its ad revenue share programme (iām not expecting big bucks)ā¦ And the terms have improved (but other platforms offer far better)ā¦ X was spotted making ads a little less obviousā¦
TweetDeck is now called XPro (And soon youāll have to pay for access)ā¦ X seems closer to launching real ID verificationā¦ X might build a stock-trading hub in its appā¦ Community Notes now highlights āTop Writersā as it expands to more countriesā¦ Blue subscribers can now download videosā¦ And Spaces finally supports speaking via desktop browsers.
TikTok / Snapchat
ByteDance got sued for collecting user data via CapCutā¦ TikTok now lets you write 4,000-character captions (almost double the old limit!)ā¦ TikTok is testing useful search filtersā¦ Snapchat is launching a rewards programme for AR Lens creators.
YouTube / Reddit / Discord
YouTube is adding a LIVE Shorts feed (the TikTok cloning continues)ā¦ and itās testing a smart tool to turn horizontal videos into Shortsā¦ YouTube has added TikTok-style Collabs and Q&A stickers.
Reddit is getting a redesign for logged out usersā¦ Reddit is testing āOfficialā labels, its own version of verificationā¦ And finallyā¦ Discord on Xbox will soon let you stream your gameplay to friends.
DID YOU SEEā¦ š
š PRO-TIP: 65 Powerful ChatGPT Prompts for Social Media Marketers [VIEW PROMPTS]
āØ FREE GUIDE: Metaās New Guide to Ads Manager [DOWNLOAD GUIDE]
Itās time we dug a little deeper on the biggest developments in social everyoneās talking about. Geekout analysis of the top stories coming up next. š [keep scrollinā]
ā Matt
šØ Everyone's talking about...
Twitterās hasty, poorly thought-through rebrand to X is the best ad in history for the value of external brand consultants.
Thereās been so much to take in. The messy process that has left plenty of āTwittersā still on show (pro-tip: even though itās officially changed, you can change the app icon back on iOS), the total lack of brand guidelines leaving social media managers confused, the logo just being a unicode symbol, and all sorts of concerns about possible trademark infringementsā¦.
Marketers might be baffled by the whole thing, but Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino (the split in their duties running the company now officially confirmed) are putting a brave face on it.
They celebrated the rebrand with a garish flashing sign that left the neighbours furious. It was swiftly taken down amid fears it could be blown off the roof in high winds, but only after it had made headlines around the world. Musk isnāt afraid to piss people off in the pursuit of publicity.
But what kind of a brand is X? What does it stand for? The dumb, weird slogan doesnāt help us make much sense of the situation.. What does āBlaze your glory!ā even MEAN?
So far X seems to stand for reinstating antisemite Kanye West again, suing anti-hate campaigners, and a terrible blog post containing half-written copy that makes professional writers feel ill. Itās not an encouraging start.
Meanwhile Musk is getting trolled by Stephen King over the whole thing and even TikTok is lining itself up as as a rival for sharing short-form text posts.
Still, the rebrand has helped create a clear break from the Twitter of the past, and it feels like more of the people who were once addicted to the app are heading elsewhere or just tuning out entirely.
No wonder the trolls are getting desperate.
Itās been hard to ignore the headlines over the past couple of weeks about how Threads usage is falling off a cliff:
Threadsā daily active user count is down 82% from launch as of July 31, according to Sensor Tower, with just eight million users accessing the app each day. That is the lowest it has been since the day after the appās release when daily active users peaked at roughly 44 million, Sensor Tower said.
Last week we heard from Mark Zuckerberg himself that less than half of the 10 million initial Threads users are regularly using the app.
However, while Meta canāt be happy with the scale of the exodus, itās fair to say they expected a sharp drop. After all, if a platform gets worldwide news coverage around its launch, of course lots of people are going to sign up for a look around - and not all of them will stay.
Meta plans āretention hooksā to keep people using the app, chief product officer Chris Cox reportedly told employees, like "making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads."
Ultimately, Mark Zuckerberg thinks Threads could be Metaās next social network with 1 billion users but it will be an uphill battle to get there as users, and Meta themselves, figure out between them what Threads is actually for.
Weāre seeing friction as some users and publishers push for more of an emphasis on news content than Meta seems to have an appetite for. But whatever Meta is, it certainly hasnāt found a vibe quite yet. It all feels a bit soulless.
Still, one encouraging data point for Meta is that a new report found that 54% of influencers said they'd already posted sponsored content on Threads
Threads might not have established itself quite yet, but you donāt need to look far to see how well Metaās copy machine can work once it gets fully fired up:
According to the most recent data, Metaās answer to TikTok gets 200 billion daily views across Facebook and Instagram.
Metaās Reels earnings rival those of TikTok. According to Insider Intelligence, the latter video service pulled in $9.9 billion of revenue in 2022. The same firm projected that TikTok will reach $13.2 billion in ad revenue this year.
Yes, Reels is really starting to breathe down TikTokās neck. As with Snapchat Stories before it, Meta is showing how it can turn a rivalās cool product into a commoditised format and reap the rewards.
With TikTokās future still hanging in the balance in the US, Meta is poised to clean up if the worst happens. But even if TikTok hangs on, itās not crazy to imagine that Reels could become more successful than its Chinese-owned rival.
Still, angry Reels creators complaining about a payout glitch this week shows how keeping āthe talentā happy is key to keeping Reels on an upward trajectory.
š LOL tweets
brands on threads
ht @marketoonist
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
social media managers: š„
legal: š«
h.t @milkkarten
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
Plus:
I think āX Moviesā isā¦ something else
Luckily, so does X
Iām still calling it Twtter
Making sense of Yaccarino speak
ā¦and to my great grandchildren I leaveā¦
š Gone viral
Elon Musk made an enemy of journalist Christopher Beale last weekend. Living opposite X HQ turned into hellā¦ but at least his video of the nightmare got him a shedload of engagement.
šŖ§ Brand social
Brands had a lot of fun with Elon Muskās hasty rebrandā¦
The letter X will be holding a press conference later today. #TwitterXtwitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet)
Jul 24, 2023
āProtect our animal species before it's too late!ā
Well played @WWF_Deutschland
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Jul 29, 2023
plus:
Greggs was on a roll
ITV X flipped the bird
ā¦and Channel 4 got real
šŗ Must-watch
Adam Mosseri appeared on Harry Stebbingsā ā20-Minute VCā podcast recently, and took the opportunity to drop some hard truths about how people use Instagram these days.
Itās well worth a watch š
How people really use Instagram in 2023
h/t @HarryStebbings / @mosseritwitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
š Must-reads
Whatās behind Mark Zuckerbergās recent image overhaul? This article digs into whatās going onā¦
Also:
The inside story of how Meta built Threads
Twitterās original logo designer explains why the bluebird worked so well, and how āXā changes everything
ā What do you think?
The āunhinged social media managerā act: fun and useful or tired and lame? Tap through and let me know what you thinkā¦ š
Social media managers...
What are your thoughts on brands leaning on the 'unhinged social media manager' tactic?
twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 2, 2023
š¬ You can quote me on that
When Iām quoted in the news, youāll find it here:
X vs Threads: I weigh in on the debate in this podcastā¦
šØ NEW PODCAST! šØ
In the latest #CommsHero podcast, our host @AsifChoudry is joined by @MattNavarra where they explore the pros, cons, ofTwitter and Threads and what the future of each social platform looks like.
Listen here: ow.ly/WaYE50Pq5MF
— CommsHero (@CommsHero)
Aug 2, 2023
Also:
Is Threads the Twitter-alternative journalists have been looking for? Journalism.co.uk asked for my opinion on their podcast
ā° ICYMI
This is something really useful that might have passed you by in a summer hazeā¦
NEW! TikTok launches ads transparency library
The searchable ads database shows:
- ad creative
- dates ad ran
- ad targeting used
- # of people served the adBut for now only data on ads running in Europe is available
Access TikTok Ad Library: library.tiktok.com/ads
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Jul 20, 2023
š¤¦ FAIL
Meta messed up payments to Reels creators, and they are NOT happy:
š¤ Did you knowā¦?
Well this has got me rethinking all that swipingā¦.!
The Reality Of Just Casually Scrolling On Social Media
On average, within 4 months, the average TikTok user will have scrolled (in length) to the depth of the Titanic digg.com/news/link/the-ā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 2, 2023
š¬ Quoted
āIām highly confident weāre going to be able to pour enough gasoline on this to help it growā
šŖ¦ RIP
Features heading for the social media graveyard:
Itās a big one this week š¢
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24805573/Twitter_X_Verge_Hero_Vs_2.jpg)
š§µ Top X thread
In this thread I break out useful insights from the Digital 2023 Global Statshot Report. Well worth a look š
šš NEW INSIGHTS: The Digital 2023 Global Statshot Report
It's stuffed full of new insights about:
š„ Social media
š» Internet usage
š¾ Gaming
š¤ AI
š° Online news consumption
šļø Ecommerce
+ moreView full report:
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Jul 20, 2023
š¤ A.I.-mazing
All the ways A.I. is transforming social media:
Meta has released a new open-source tool that creates music and sounds entirely through generative A.I.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951350/STK043_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_6_Meta.jpg)
Also:
Meta could launchĀ A.I. chatbots with personalities as soon as September
Instagram is experimenting with A.I. sticker creation, visual editing tool, and more
Instagram could soon offer the ability to label your posts as A.I.-generated.
Instagram is working on an A.I brush and ārestyleā tool for the Story editor.
Instagram is working on a Message Summary feature for your messages inbox.
LinkedIn is testing an A.I. coach to guide your usage of the platform
YouTube is testing A.I.-generated video summaries in-stream
š” New feature spotlight
Even TikTok wants to be a Twitter rivalā¦
š Reported
Key insights from recently published reports:
NEW DATA: UK Media Consumption Habits 2023 š¬š§š±
Most popular platform for short-form video (all ages):
- YouTube: 68% of people
- Facebook: 49%
- Instagram: 31%Social platforms with the highest overall reach:
- Facebook: 91% of online UK adults
- YouTube: 91%Most time spentā¦ twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
NEW INSIGHTS: Brands Get More Reach on Instagram, TikTok Wins for Engagement
Here are FOUR takeaways from an analysis of brand social profiles
1. TikTok is great for follower growth and engagement, while Instagram reels gets more reach and interactions
2. Instagram isā¦ twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 2, 2023
š Social stats
Turns out people donāt want Metaās smart Ray-Bays. People surprised = 0.
90% of Meta x Ray-Ban Smart Glasses owners have ditched them
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
Also:
How YouTube, Meta and Snap's battle with TikTok in short-form video is playing out
Twitchās top streamersĀ dominate watch time
54% of influencers have posted Threads sponsored content
š Charted
The Social Media Copycat Conundrum
axios.com/newsletters/axā¦
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra)
Aug 3, 2023
Also:
Meta's mentions of āA.I.ā in the companyās conference calls have increased 4x since 2021
How news publishers are experimenting with Threads
What happened when 15 of Twitterās top celebrities joined Threads
How much the most followed Instagram accounts earn on posts
 | More Meta News |
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951344/STK040_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_4_facebook.jpg)
Facebook bowed to White House pressure to remove Covid-related posts, internal documents suggest. [Wall Street Journal $$$]
Meta has been accused of āneglectingā an initiative designed to remove harmful content and misinformation online. [Financial Times $$$]
News publisher Reachās revenue has been hit by Facebook deprioritising news. [Press Gazette]
AN NHS health board has been reprimanded after patient data shared on WhatsApp over 500 times. [Sky News]
Roblox for Quest VR has been downloaded āwell overā 1 million times, according to Robloxās CEO. [The Verge]
Insights to give you an edge at work:
Why Meta is giving away its extremely powerful AI model. [Vox]
Meta has published a new guide to Facebook Ads Manager. [Social Media Today]
New features and tests:
Facebook:
Facebook now lets you choose a default between publishing short videos as Reels or posts. [@oncescuradu]
Instagram:
Instagram now lets you manage your broadcast channel on desktop. [@jonah_manzano]
Instagram now auto-plays carousels of three or more images. [@oncescuradu]
Instagram has added a button to help you learn more about being a creator. [@jonah_manznao]
Instagram could soon let you adjust the playback speed of audio messages. [@ahmedghanem]
Instagram is working on adding a Saved tab to your profile. [@alex193a]
Instagram has added an option āAvatar interactionsā in the Privacy page. [@hammodoh1]
Instagram is testing showing broadcast channel subscriber counts on profilesā¦ [@ahmedghanem]
Instagram is rolling out Avatar interactions and shared Avatar stickersā¦ [@SaadhJawwadh]
WhatsApp:
WhatsApp is testing animated avatar stickersā¦ [WABetaInfo]
WhatsApp could soon let you protect your account with an email addressā¦ [WABetaInfo]
The rest: Creator Studio/adtech/Quest and more:
Meta is working on new prototype VR headsets that focus on retinal resolution and light field passthrough. [Road to VR]
 | More X News |
New features and tests:
X now lets creators limit replies to their paying subscribers. [@jonah_manzano]
Posts from Communities will now show up in your main feed. [Social Media Today]
 | More TikTok News |
New features and tests:
TikTok has added āsubscription spotlightā to help you show off benefits of your paid contentā¦ [@jonah_manzano]
š„ Even more social media news and updates
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24305992/STK140_Mastedon_K_Radtke_02.jpg)
China could impose strict limits on childrenās internet usage. [The Verge]
Australiaās ban of TikTok on should also include WeChat, according to new recommendations. [The Guardian]
Reddit has closed the r/Place collaborative art project. [The Verge]
Three big Reddit communities are no longer focused on John Oliver. [The Verge]
Pinterest beat revenue estimates in its latest quarterly earnings report. [Bloomberg $$$]
Twitch has expanded its ban on gambling livestreams. [AP]
Insights to give you an edge at work:
How content creators and teams are using A.I. [Buffer blog]
New features and tests:
YouTube now lets you add a Short to any playlist. [@oncescuradu]
Snapchat has launched a limited-time Story format to mark International Friendship Day. [Social Media Today]
Bluesky has replaced āWhatās Hotā with personalised āDiscoverā feed. [TechCrunch]
Twitch has improved the way chat replies are displayed. [@TwitchSupport]
Discord on Xbox will soon let you stream your gameplay to friends. [The Verge]
T2 has added DMs ahead of other budding Twitter rivals. [TechCrunch]
š Weekend reading
How to reward social media users for sharing accurate information
Influencers and freebies: Big Tobaccoās push to sell nicotine pouches in UK
š³ And finally...
All is not going well in MrBeastās burger kitchens. The customers arenāt too happy either, it seemsā¦ š¤®
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24821828/1420811775.jpg)
š Back next week...
ā¦You made it to the end of this weekās Geekout. šš¾
Does anyone ever actually read this bit? Tweet me āI read itā if you do! š
ā
āØ HELP WANTEDā¦ GEEKOUT NEWSLETTER v 2.0 COMING SOON āØ
Iām working on plans to revamp Geekout Newsletter.
And Iād love to get your input.
What Geekout Newsletter improvements or changes would you like me to make?
Reply to this email with your suggestions
ā
Thatās all for this week folks.
Iām heading off to hide my blue checkmark and figure out a better Threads strategy.
Goodbye geeks!
ā Matt
š² Advertise in Geekout
Geekout has 28,000+ subscribers
Geekout subscribers manage social media for the worldās biggest brands including Apple, Amazon, BBC, Edelman, Redbull, Twitter, McDonalds, Nike, and more
Geekout has an industry-beating open rate of 51% and a 20% click rate!
You should advertise in Geekout! Get in touch: [email protected]
_______
This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant