Trump and Musk power-up their platforms as weapons

...It’s social media’s messiest breakup of the year

Author

Matt Navarra
June 06, 2025

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Hello, geeks!

Well that was predictable.

The Trump / Musk bromance is officially dead.

Some people gave it a year before the special relationship imploded.

But the split has happened in under six months.

But at least we get to watch them both slug it out as both have powered up their own social platforms for a very public war of words on X and Truth Social.

Meanwhile, the internet only wants to know one thing:

More on the Trump vs Musk social media meltdown in a moment.

But first…

I found these. I highly recommend checking them out: 👀
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🔥 What’s really working in social in 2025… Check out this Mid-Year 2025 Social Media Trends Reality Check. [ad]

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🔥 Create stunning videos in seconds with this FREE AI extension… Turn boring boring docs into viral video clips, saving you hours. [ad]

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I’m ready for my close-up 🎬
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Next week, I’m heading into London to film an interview for a new Channel 4 (UK) documentary.

The new docuseries shines a spotlight on how some of the UK’s most-loved brands nailing it (or not) on social. With a particular focus on Gen-Z, Gen Alpha, and the rise of ‘unhinged’ content.

If you run social for a top UK brand, brace yourselves. I may be critiquing your work. 😬

While I do enjoy these wild opportunities, I’d be lying if i said I wasn’t more than a little anxious.

Fluffling my lines. A face better suited for radio. And the the risk of embarrassing my two teenage children… Are all things playing on my mind.

I can never bare to watch myself on screen, but for those who can, the show will air sometime in Autumn 2025 on Channel 4.

Wish me luck! 🤞

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What’s inside: 👀

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  • 🥇 Where brands are winning — and where they’re falling flat

  • 🔮 5 bold predictions vs. what really happened

  • 😱 1 curveball trend no one saw coming — and how to jump on it

  • ✨ Real-world tactics across AI, creators, search, and approvals

  • ✅ FREE social media manager checklist to sharpen your next 6 months

This BS-free guide reveals what to double down on — and what to ditch.

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

Elon Musk turns X into a weapon against Trump in explosive public feud

A knock-down fight between the world's most powerful politician and its richest person is playing out in public view.

  1. Meta plans to fully automate ad creation using AI by 2026 [LINK]

  2. TikTok banned the SkinnyTok hashtag worldwide after pressure from EU regulators [BLOCKING]

  3. Reddit is suing Anthropic, alleging unauthorised use of the site’s data [AI-FEUDING]

  4. Meta took the European Commission to court over inclusion of Messenger and Marketplace under the Digital Markets Act [CONTESTING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

Musk v Trump: X v Truth Social

Musk used X to boost Trump. Now he’s wielding it against him.

We’re used to social media wars, but this was something MORE.

Sure, we all knew the big Musk/Trump falling-out was coming, but when it came it was the equivalent of an epic space battle in a sci-fi movie, with a big dose of comedy.

Need to catch up? Axios has a blow-by-blow of the barbs the pair traded online over several hours yesterday.

But what’s really interesting here is these were two of the world’s most powerful men using very modern weapons: their own social media platforms.

Sure, X has way more reach than the relatively tiny Truth Social, but Musk and Trump were able to get their words out in friendly environments, surrounded by supporters to egg them on, with no risk of having their reach limited, or being banned, or any of the other hazards they might have had to contend with if they were on someone else’s platform..

…or if Trump was still using X as his main outlet. The cards would definitely be stacked against him then.

And while we can never be sure how much of all this is performance and how much is real, it does seem that Musk was listening to some of the feedback from X users…

The idea that some X user called @Fab25june might have saved the NASA space programme is quite a crazy thought.

Sure, Musk might not really have ever followed through on his threat to decommission the SpaceX Dragon capsule, but as the drop in Tesla’s stock price (and thus Musk’s net worth) showed as the battle unfolded, the stakes of this fight were very real.

Are they both going to calm down now? Or will their egos and thirst for attention get the better of them? I can’t wait to find out…

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta / Facebook / Messenger 👥

Meta’s Aria Gen 2 Smart Glasses’ Features

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Instagram ✨

Instagram’s new ‘Quicksnap Stories’ feature | Credit: @theahmedghanem

  • Instagram is expanding testing of its new Quicksnap Stories to more beta testers

  • Instagram is working on a teleprompter feature

  • Instagram creators with 100K+ followers will now be able to sort comments by ‘Top comments’, ‘Newest first’, or ‘Follower count’

  • Instagram’s iPad app is reportedly already being tested and is on course to be released this year

  • Instagram is working on allowing accounts with over 3,000 followers to create broadcast channels, down from 10,000

  • Instagram is prompting users to automatically schedule cross-posts of their most popular Reels to Facebook

  • Instagram is rolling out the ability to rearrange posts on your grid to more users.

  • Instagram’s latest updates for its Edits app include more improved clipping precision and audio volume controlstransition effects,

  • Instagram has added icons for the ‘Templates’ and ‘Music’ features available for Instagram Stories.

  • Instagram has new ‘end of the school year’ stickers

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Threads 🧵 / WhatsApp 💬 

WhatsApp’s new Usernames feature | Credit: @wabetainfo

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Twitter (‘X’) 🤡

X’s new XChat encrpted DMs feature | Credit: @jonahmanzano

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TikTok 📱 / YouTube 📺

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Snapchat / Pinterest / LinkedIn / Reddit / More… 👻

Snapchat is finally available on Apple Watch | Credit: Snap

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

Just head to the ‘More news’ section below!

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🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

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

TikTok gives advertisers new AI-driven tools to help track trends and reuse creator videos

The company announced new AI-driven advertiser tools, including one that spits out information about trends.

Also spotted this week 👀

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😆 LOL

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📈 MEMES

How can we focus on anything else? Musk v Trump was the main event. But the memes and posts around it were the tasty side dish…

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🌡️ VIRAL

I hate to inform you, but the 2000s are retro now 👴 and the decade is making a comeback on TikTok…

#noughtiesnostalgia content is up 36% year-on-year.

Noughties nostalgia trends on TikTok as fans revisit music and TV favourites

Also:

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🪧 BRANDS

WhatsApp groups with stars could be the next big thing…

“NBA star Jimmy Butler is partnering with WhatsApp and OffBall to provide group chat commentary on the UEFA Champions League, as the companies look to grow 'The Chat' concept.”

Can Live Event Celebrity Group Chats Take Over the Second Screen?

Also:

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“The New York Times was lying their ass off”

- Noted liar Elon Musk claims a New York Times report about his alleged heavy drug use was false 🤔

Also overheard this week:

  • "I'm definitely the one who's constantly bringing up enshittification… It's not a bad thing to build a strong business and to monetise a product. That's how we can reinvest and continue to make things better. But we have to be extremely thoughtful about how we do that." – Discord CTO Stan Vishnevskiy sounds like a good guy

  • Bluesky CEO Jay Graber speaks out against claims the platform is in decline:

    “Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated… with social sites, it’s not straight up all the time. [Growth] comes in waves, and at each stage, there’s a new era of communities being established and formed.” 

  • Snap boss Evan Spiegel says AR glasses will be “bigger than the Apple Watch.”

  • Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth described Silicon Valley’s new openness to work with the US military as a “return to grace.”

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📺 MUST WATCH

LinkedIn’s CMO talks AI, trust, and modern marketing in this conversation with Steven ‘Diary of a CEO’ Bartlett…

Also:

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😮 WTF?!

“What would you take from your house if there were a zombie apocalypse? What type of person would you like to live on Mars with?

“These are some of the questions being used to train AI voice models for Elon Musk’s xAI, alongside everyday topics about DIY plumbing and trip planning, documents obtained by Business Insider show.”

Elon Musk's xAl is training voice models with zombie-apocalypse chats, plumbing fails, and life on Mars

Also this week 👀

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🤦‍♂️ FAIL

X’s new XChat is far from perfect, it seems.

X’s help page admits man-in-the-middle attacks remain a risk, and critics say the system lacks transparency, open source code, or real user data control.

Twitter launches 'XChat' encrypted DMs with big caveats

Also:

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📲 NEW APPS + AI TOOLS

“Bonfire's mission is to build social software where people get to make the decisions, not big tech platform makers like Meta or Google.”

Bonfire's new software lets users build their own social communities, free from platform control

Also:

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

The Royal Shakespeare Company is looking for a Senior Social Media Manager [Stratford-upon-Avon, UK]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

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👌 PRO TIPS

As the mid-point of the year looms, take stock of the social media trends worth paying attention to…

15 social media trends shaping 2025 [mid-year update]

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

81%

- The percentage of influencers who use AI, to write scripts, smooth posts, and manage workflow

Even more social stats: 📈

  • CREATING PRESSURE: One third of Gen Z feels ‘pressure’ to become social media creators

  • DOWN TO BUSINESS: 59% of B2B buyers consume creator content on LinkedIn, and 39% consider it the most trustworthy platform

  • TRIAL RUN: Instagram says after trying trial reels, 40% of creators started posting reels more often

  • GOOD BUSINESS: TikTok’s UK revenue surged 50% last year, according to its UK commerce lead, Kris Boger

  • TV TUBE LATEST: 66% of Americans see YouTube as a legit home for TV shows and movies

  • BAD ADVICE: “52% of TikTok videos offering advice on dealing with trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, depression and severe mental illness contained some misinformation, and that many others were vague or unhelpful”, according to a recent study

  • TOTAL RECALL: 93% of B2B marketers believe video outperforms image ads for brand recall.

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📈 CHARTED

What’s the most popular social media management tool in 2025?

Sprout Social is way out in front.

Here are more interesting insights from Rachel Karten’s 2025 Very Online survey…

- 40% of social pros use Sprout Social, followed by Later + Sprinklr
- 61% use AI regularly, mainly for copy + ideas, but rarely for visuals
- 64% publish posts manually—mostly on TikTok (31%) + Instagram (25%)
- Google Workspace is used by 67%; Canva + CapCut seen as essential
- 84% track engagement rate; 33% track click-through rate
- Social team leads make 33% of tool-buying decisions

More charted social insights spotted this week: 👀.

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

The ‘beige Amazon influencer’ lawsuit is headed for dismissal

Can you copyright a vibe? No, at least for now.

  • A judge has halted Florida’s ban on social media for kids under 16. [AP]

  • Creators have accused Capital One’s browser extension of hijacking affiliate tracking to steal earned commissions. [Reuters $$$]

  • MrBeast has hired Beau Avril—ex-YouTube, TikTok, and Meta—to lead global media and brand deals. [TubeFilter]

More new features and tests:

  • Instagram now lets you change the name of a broadcast channel from within the channel itself. [@theahmedghanem]

  • WhatsApp is testing a new “Request Channels report” feature for broadcast channels. [@oncescuradu]

  • Meta Business Suite has added a “Link” sticker for Stories. [@theahmedghanem]

  • LinkedIn has a new “Actively reviewing applications” status for job listings. [@oncescuradu]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

Bluesky started out at Twitter. Now it's a Twitter rival. CEO Jay Graber explains what happened.

Bluesky is a fast-growing Twitter rival, with 36 million users. CEO Jay Graber explains its origin, and future plans, in a Q&A with Peter Kafka.

More great weekend reads:

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😳 AND FINALLY…

“Kai Cenat’s “Streamer University” set out to show small content creators how to succeed. What we got were plenty of altercations and maybe Drake’s leaked phone number….”

Here’s everything that went down on campus….

Would You Attend This Fake College to Learn How to Go Viral?

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

You made it to the end of this week’s Geekout.

Chalk that up as an achievement, given how long it is!

I’m heading off to watch what’s left of the Trump vs. Musk war of words online.

The best the world can hope for right now is mutual destruction.

Goodbye, geeks!

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

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