Hello, geeks!
Rough week to be a tech CEO.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang went from tech’s main “wife guy” to #OpenToWork in four days, roasted by AI memes quite possibly made on his own chips. The circle of life.
Meta got fined twice: £450,000 by Ofcom and $1.3m in Brazil. Somewhere in Menlo Park, an accountant found both down the back of the sofa.
Then eBay locked Meta’s Muse out, weeks after Amazon did. Zuck wants billions of AI shopping agents. Shops would like them to stay outside. Muse can now phone businesses for you, if you pay. Just not eBay. eBay’s not picking up.
A favour to ask
Further down, I get a bit personal about Geekout: how it started, what’s next, and your biggest complaint about it. (It’s long. Yes, I know. I read every unsubscribe note.) I’d love your take.
Ever thought “I should start a newsletter”? Do it.
I started Geekout with zero clue. Six years later, it’s my biggest money-maker, and my 30,000+ readers are mine, not Meta’s → Start yours on beehiiv, 30% off for 3 months*
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Coming up in this week’s Geekout…
🔌 The EU wants an off switch for addictive feeds. Teens are already drafting their appeal
🛍️ TikTok Shop now charges its best shoppers to shop. Bold
💸 Meta got fined twice. Pocket change
📨 Instagram is building a Direct messaging app. Again
🧥 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned. The memes didn’t
🇫🇮 Why Finland’s embassy went viral for… closing
Let’s get into it 👇
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TOP STORY: Draft EU rules would let adults switch off social media features designed to keep them hooked.
The push against social media addiction continues…
TikTok Shop launches paid premium tier for 1 million top US shoppers [CASHING IN]
Music streamed on YouTube will count towards the Billboard charts again from 2027, ending a long standoff [CHARTING AGAIN]
EU considers requiring clear labels on sponsored creator content [SPELLING IT OUT]
Meta reportedly bringing Muse to the UK within weeks, with retailer partnerships being prepared [A-MUSING THE BRITS]
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Almost every social media manager I know has the same folder. Old webinar recordings. A 40-minute founder interview. Event clips from three months ago. There's easily a week of Reels sitting in there, and nobody's had time to cut them.
That's why Rio, Slate's new AI video editor, caught my eye. It doesn't make anything up. No avatars, no AI-generated footage. It only edits video you've already shot.
You brief it like a junior editor:
✂️ "Find the strongest moment and make a 30-second clip with captions"
📱 "Make it vertical and keep the speaker centred"
🧹 "Cut the pauses and filler words"
And it all happens on a normal editing timeline. If Rio gets a cut wrong, tell it again or drag the clip yourself. No black box, no starting over.
I've teamed up with Slate to get Geekout readers 3 weeks free (everyone else gets 2). No card needed, and it's applied automatically when you click through from here.
What should this newsletter do next?
It’s now over six years since I had an idea…
After leaving my job at The Next Web, I had nowhere to share all the news, new features, and opinions I had about social media.
And so I thought… how about a newsletter? I put out the tweet above, and was immediately bombarded with people telling me YES: I should do it.
So I started working on it with Martin, and before we knew it we had paid ads booked in for the whole year, and a sponsorship deal for a Geekout podcast. Issue #001 launched on 26 June 2020, with a sponsor on board from day one.
Geekout has become a six-figure business for me and I’m really proud of everything I’ve achieved. But nothing stands still.
Over the years we’ve tweaked the content and design but the core offering has remained: a single place every week where you can see ALL the social media news and discussion from the past seven days.
And so many of you have stuck with this newsletter over the years for that very reason. But it’s not for everyone. I’m often told it’s too long, or the design is too busy and distracting.
Last week, I shared a sneak peek of an experimental version of Geekout. It’s one of many ideas I’m playing with, and it’s far from the finished product. Think test kitchen, not grand opening.
So as we approach 2027, I’m thinking about how to keep Geekout fresh, appealing, and relevant. And I want your input!
What would make Geekout better for you?
And one more, because what people say and what they actually do aren’t always the same thing 👀
How much of Geekout do you read?
…or just hit reply to this newsletter in your email inbox and tell me how Geekout could be a more valuable read for you.
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Meta
/ Facebook
Facebook is reportedly offering some creators $5,000 for a video series of five 60-second episodes, if each one hits 10,000 views
Meta’s Muse has been blocked by eBay, after Amazon locked it out in September
Meta and IMAX have signed a deal for an immersive virtual cinema for the upcoming VR Glasses
Meta’s VR subscription could be rebranded as Meta VR Plus, potentially offering 3D movies alongside games
Meta has taken down Russell Brand’s Instagram and Facebook pages following his rape and sexual assault conviction
Meta plans to build a new business selling its AI products to companies, and is hiring a sales team for the task
Meta has started moving users from Accounts Centre to the new Meta Account, with no opt-out (Consent, but make it mandatory)
Facebook now lets AI draft replies to multiple comments in your style
Meta has been fined £450,000 by Ofcom for giving it inaccurate WhatsApp Business data (That’s less than two minutes of Meta revenue)
Facebook has been fined $1.3m in Brazil for failing to comply with court orders during the election
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Instagram
Instagram Edits has added speed curves, automatic audio mixing and more control over text animations
Instagram has brought back the ‘Deactivated accounts’ category in Followers (Finally, an excuse for that follower drop)
Instagram is launching AI-powered age checks worldwide, to move teens with adult birthdays into Teen Accounts. Facebook and Threads are next
Instagram hosted Hollywood’s rising stars at its Close Friends party
Instagram is testing a separate upload flow for long-form videos, with snippet clips publishing as Reels
Instagram is working on a dedicated Sports section, where you pick your sports and leagues for real-time updates
Instagram is working on a standalone Direct app, logo and all. Déjà vu: it tested one in 2017, then killed it in 2019 (I broke that news)
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Threads
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WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s view-once texts are rolling out in beta [Credit: WABetaInfo]
WhatsApp is rolling out view-once text messages on Android beta (Perfect for texts you’ll regret by morning)
Threads has rolled out custom like buttons more widely, after testing them in a few countries. I’ve ‘Bean’ trying it out
Threads has expanded advanced search so lost posts are easier to find
Threads is working on long posts and cashtags
Threads is testing a swipeable carousel of comments under some feed posts
WhatsApp’s new boss wants to make the app a hub for your life admin
WhatsApp is starting to test a dedicated Contacts tab on iOS, replacing Communities, with favourites, online dots and upcoming birthdays
WhatsApp plans to let users with usernames control who gets to see their phone number
WhatsApp is developing location-only Status updates, so you can share a place as a map card
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X / Twitter
X now lets you clip videos without leaving the app [Credit: Digital Trends]
X has added a video clipping tool that credits the original creator and links to their video… but creators can’t opt out 😬
The ‘Musk’ documentary Elon hates hits European cinemas in January, starting with the UK on the 15th (Expect a strongly worded post. Or 40)
X now lets you cram 20 photos and videos into a single post
X is working on labels that explain why its AI flagged your posts
X will soon launch X Money in the EU
X has added a Calls tab to its main menu on iOS
X now lets you create call links in DMs, with Share and Join buttons in the chat
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TikTok
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YouTube
YouTube is going all in on GTA VI launch [Credit: YouTube]
YouTube is marking GTA VI’s launch with themed livestream gifts, Vice City Shorts effects and a 24-hour creator broadcast
TikTok has been accused of helping to promote the sex industry to girls
TikTok owner ByteDance is said to be working on its own version of Meta’s Muse
TikTok is planning to bring its Whee app to the EU
TikTok has kicked off LIVE Fest 2026, with in-app contests running until December and a global gala in Tokyo next year
YouTube Kids could be banned as part of the UK’s under-16 social media ban in 2027 (Peppa Pig, now rated 16+)
YouTube has expanded its paid ‘Hype’ feature to the US, UK, Canada, and six more countries
YouTube appears to have expanded personalised gambling ads across the US, UK, and Canada
YouTube is providing eligible affiliate creators with personalised product picks inside Studio’s shopping hub
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LinkedIn
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Reddit
/
Snapchat
LinkedIn could soon out your profile lurking [Credit: WIRED]
LinkedIn might soon tell users you keep checking their profile with a ‘Frequent Viewer’ label 😬
LinkedIn now lets your TV advertise to you based on your profile details (Your sofa is now a B2B touchpoint)
LinkedIn will let sponsors add their own sales pitch to ad versions of your posts, if approved
LinkedIn has revealed details of how its new AI-ranked feed works
Snapchat is disabling Find Friends for UK users under 18 to make it harder for strangers to contact children
Discord has added PlayStation-trophy-like profile badges you unlock just by gaming, streaming or sticking around on Discord
Discord now lets you schedule messages, bookmark them and set reminders
Reddit has pushed automatic archiving back from six to 18 months, giving older discussions more time to stay alive
Reddit is courting new advertisers with generous credits to boost campaigns, matching spend up to $1,500 in the US (£2,000 in the UK) on campaigns launched before 20 November
Disney+ reportedly plans to add videos from creators to its vertical video feature
Substack has given publications a design makeover, with seven new themes and editors for layouts, colours and fonts
Instagram Edits now lets you build your own Story effects with AI prompts. Describe it, get it. Taste not included.
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Also spotted this week…
Reddit is testing Reddit Reviews, which uses AI to turn product discussions into dedicated review pages. Some users aren’t keen
Meta’s Muse can now create custom project spaces within the app, for planning trips, tracking orders, or whatever you like
Meta’s Muse can now place calls to US businesses, as a paid feature
Meta has brought Muse to Apple Watch and Google’s Wear OS
Meta’s latest models are better at remembering things, to stay useful across conversations
Meta has launched Ember, a model to work alongside Wonder, doing the boring bits of handling work at volume
Meta’s ad engine now has AI agents tuning the machinery
WhatsApp can use AI to expand photos into vertical images for Status posts
YouTube Studio can now automatically turn 16:9 podcast segments into vertical Shorts
YouTube now lets you ask support questions in the same chat as channel queries, with Ask Studio
TikTok has expanded its AI ad tools with new API features, AI labels, and more
xAI’s Grok Bot can now do more on your Mac, with integrations to key apps like Messages and Mail
Adobe is expanding Firefly beyond AI image generation with a host of new tools across its suite of apps
Apple has added $49.99 AI usage top-ups for its Creator Studio suite, starting in Logic Pro
TikTok has stretched Symphony’s AI videos to 30 seconds, and advertisers can now pay for extra generation
Adobe showed off ten experimental AI tools at MAX Sneaks
Pinterest is pushing Pinterest Assistant for festive shopping
Pinterest has made its AI rules part of its Terms of Service, so misusing its AI tools can now cost you your account
Jensen Huang’s week went from rough to #OpenToWork
After the Nvidia boss admitted an affair with a woman US officials reportedly flagged as a Chinese intelligence asset, the internet did what it does best.
AI detection firm Copyleaks counted 70+ AI-made posts about him on X by Monday morning, racking up 8.4M+ views… made with AI tools that quite possibly run on Nvidia chips.
Then on Thursday, he resigned. Some of these memes aged very well.
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Find more Jensen memes here.
Finland’s embassy in Australia went viral on Instagram. By closing. For a day.
A staff training day meant the embassy had to shut for one day… so they posted about it on Instagram
The notice drew 622,000+ likes and 405,000+ shares
An earlier dinner-date clip had drawn eight million views on Instagram, perhaps priming the algorithm to tell the world about a tiny bit of local news
The embassy team ended up having a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its reopening the next day!
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Also viral this week:
AI job interviews are getting roasted. The viral clips are staged
Gen Z’s viral ‘WhimZ’ trend puts optimism back on the timeline
TikTok’s viral then-and-now photo trend turns childhood snaps into emotional stories
Gen Alpha has added a ‘satisfying’ word to its vocabulary
This is a good look at how Hollywood is adapting to the creator-led world.
…whether any of this makes for better movies is another question!
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More brand news and views:
Brands increasingly want clicks and sales evidence from creators, not just big follower counts
The Met Opera is hunting for its next audience on YouTube
Ogilvy and CAA have launched a partnership to clone celebrity talent for AI ads
“Brands should hire creators for brand fit first, then give them room to shape the work”
Disney is building custom AI models with Adobe for its parks, studios and ESPN
The best creator for your brand might be an expert, not an influencer
Priceline is the first travel brand to put its AI agent Penny inside Snapchat’s AI Sponsored Snaps, chatting with users and carrying trip details over to Priceline
"Don’t put anything in front of our children that you wouldn’t put in front of your own children"
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Also quoted this week:
“Following counts still matter on Instagram more than they do on platforms like TikTok.”
– Adam Mosseri on why followers still count
Remember Medium? They’ve just launched their first major new product in almost a decade.
TK makes writing social:
The app combines everyday notes, personal journalling and longer writing
Libraries let you share selected writing with groups of people
AI assistance sits alongside writing, rather than replacing the editor
It’s available free on the web, Android and iOS devices
Read more from The Verge.
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Also this week:
Linnet can edit your podcast with a prompt
Drops is a fun way to share songs with friends
Whoop has launched a social network for sharing your workouts, sleep and recovery scores
Your Instagram habits could hint at loneliness.
Researchers compared 415 US students’ Instagram data with loneliness measures. Different habits were linked to different types of loneliness.
But correlation is not causation: this doesn’t mean Instagram causes loneliness, just that you might use it differently if you’re lonely.
X says it was the victim of fake takedown notices in India.
A lawyer for the company claims someone impersonating Delhi police sent the emails asking for two prominent free speech groups’ accounts to be removed.
Even the police emails are fake now. Elon must feel right at home.
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More WTF this week:
Grok called out Elon Musk for chumming around with an actual Nazi (are you surprised?)
Five Meta glasses styles need an update… to prevent overheating when you get sweaty! Nothing says premium wearable like a sweat-triggered shutdown.
Excess sweat or moisture can make five Meta styles overheat
Adventurer, Fury, Starfire, Nova and Capri are the affected styles
Meta says Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses aren’t affected by this issue
Meta smart glasses owners can update affected glasses to version 130 or later through Meta AI
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More fails spotted:
Reddit has been spotted telling desktop web users to use the mobile app instead, with annoying pop-ups. A mistake, surely?
Grok’s app builder can lead to some serious security holes
How can you succeed as a creator on TikTok Shop?
Talon Krebs earned six figures last year, verified through a tax form
He posts up to 30 videos daily across three accounts
His 30–50-second clips pair curiosity with product demos and clear calls to action
These are one creator’s results, not typical earnings or a guaranteed formula. But worth a look for inspiration!
A creator making 6 figures on TikTok explains how he grabs attention on the platform
Business Insider
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Also this week:
TikTok has published Q5 guides targeting app and gaming campaigns after Christmas
Longer Instagram Reels can win on reach, a new Buffer study finds
Heads up: Copied Meta ads can pick up promotions from the original, even if you switched them off first
Pinterest’s marketing chief says saved ideas matter more than followers. She urges brands to prioritise useful content over hijacking attention
Manychat will run a free Creatorworld livestream for creators and brands, covering creator businesses, with live questions and networking
Facebook has explained how to tell its algorithm what you want with the recently launched Your Algorithm feature
Reddit has a free 2027 calendar of seasonal events and cultural moments for social teams
TikTok Search Ads need their own playbook: keyword bidding, auto keywords and negative keywords explained
18%
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More social stats:
SMALL BUCKS: Only 8.9% of monetising creators earn at least $30,000 a year. The top 10% take an estimated 60.1% of creator income
TRAFFIC JAM: Reddit’s visits are down 13% year on year, says Similarweb, but Reddit says its active audience tells a different story
GOOGLE WHO?: 65% of US adults have turned to Reddit or TikTok when Google didn’t help
PLAY TO PAY: Meta’s Quest store now makes more from in-app purchases than from paid apps
THINK LOUDER: 82% of B2B buyers value thought leadership more as AI grows, says a LinkedIn and Edelman study
LIVE WIRE: 61% of UK small businesses using TikTok LIVE Shopping say one session beat a week of sales from other channels
Influencer culture isn’t just limited to the US and a few other rich countries, as this chart shows…
Where people follow influencers the most [Credit: Visual Capitalist]
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Also charted this week:
AI SMARTS: Updating your YouTube video descriptions and timestamps might have a big effect on AI finding the content
POWER, GRABBED: Americans agree social platforms have too much political power
TOP SCORER: Harry Kane leads the UK’s fastest-growing Instagram accounts. A husky came third
SHOP TALK: Medicube’s body-care set topped TikTok Shop’s October bestsellers with $6.77m revenue
EU regulators want smart glasses to make recording obvious, as lawmakers around the world close in on the technology.
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Also spotted this week…
Meta and TikTok’s payouts in settlement with teens in a social media addiction case reportedly come to between $2 million and $2.5 million each. [Bloomberg $$$]
A US appeals court has limited an order for LinkedIn to disclose journalists' communications in a leak probe. [ABC News]
TikTok’s music distributor has landed a deal with Daddy Yankee, which it calls its biggest artist partnership to date. [TikTok Newsroom]
YouTube has shared insights into the concerns of creators in the EU. [Social Media Today]
Spain threatened to suspend TikTok over CSAM on the platform, but its data watchdog has rejected a blanket block and opened a probe instead. [Reuters $$$]
Meta, TikTok, and Google have pushed back on Indonesia’s copyright bill. [TNW]
A leaked TikTok org chart shows how execs from China have gained power in its US e-commerce operations. [Business Insider $$$]
Vinted and eBay could be caught up in the UK’s teen social ban. [TNW]
Canvas is building a subscription platform around microdramas made with online creators. [Net Influencer]
Families are taking on xAI, alleging Grok turned childhood photos into sexual abuse material. [Bloomberg $$$]
Pausing Meta’s new ad terms doesn’t undo the old ones: placing an ad still lets Meta crawl your site. [Search Engine Journal]
Zefr now measures CapCut and TikTok TopView ads independently. [PPC Land]
Paris Hilton has opened up about ADHD and creativity in a new YouTube interview. [YouTube blog]
Stan has bought scheduling tool Typefully, bringing nearly 10,000 paying customers into its creator commerce business. [Net Influencer]
New features and tests:
Disney+ has added 60 3D movies to its app for Meta Quest. [Upload VR]
Adobe is working on app integrations with a range of Google products. [Google blog]
Streams Charts now tracks YouTube livestream replays, regular video uploads and Shorts. [Net Influencer]
WhatsApp is rolling out its floating navigation bar on Android that shrinks as you scroll, after testing it in October. [WABetaInfo]
WhatsApp Plus is adding Focus Schedules to mute or hide chats at set times. [@jonahmanzano]
Substack has added collapsible content blocks. [@substack]
…and a Photography category. [@substack]
WhatsApp has renamed “AI Studio” to “Presets” in Meta AI on iOS. [@oncescuradu]
Facebook is nudging users to set up passkeys. [@MartinSFP]
LinkedIn now shows a carousel of its games at the top of search. [@oncescuradu]
TikTok has moved its tab bar to the side on iPhone Duo. [@betaprofiles]
Threads and TikTok are testing new desktop layouts, with TikTok showing vertical videos in landscape. [@oncescuradu]
Instagram is simplifying its notification settings, with new options like ‘Messages only’. [@jonahmanzano]
Instagram DMs now show ‘Invite’ where ‘Event’ used to be, with templates or your own image. [@jonahmanzano]
Threads has a Liquid Glass look on iOS, with a yellow glow and rainbow edges as you switch tabs. [@jonahmanzano]
WhatsApp is showing a cloud backup option with up to 4TB of storage, depending on your plan. [@jonahmanzano]
Meta’s Pocket app has a new look, with a black-and-white logo and minimalist design. [@oncescuradu]
X on the web now shows how many photos a quoted post contains. [@oncescuradu]
Discord has rounded up a year of Linux upgrades, including a new updater and better screen sharing. [Discord]
TikTok has added a Premier tier to its Creative Partner programme, for top agencies, software and UGC partners. [TikTok]
Reddit is testing video playback speed controls, from half to double speed, plus video carousels. [Reddit]
“Streamers may end up borrowing something useful from TikTok: a better way to browse. Their business still depends on what people settle in to watch.”
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Also worth a read:
Does Andy Burnham’s pivot from press to social media put scrutiny at risk?
Jensen Huang may have lost his ‘wife guy’ status this week, but the tech world still has one man left standing for the title…
Enter Zuck. I mean, the guy commissioned a seven-foot statue of Priscilla Chan, which I’d somehow forgotten about until I read this.
Can you keep your status, Mark…? Tech needs one wife guy, surely!
That’s a wrap for this week, folks.
Tomorrow I turn 47. So I’m off to stock up on the essentials for staying young: anti-ageing cream, an outfit the kids will call “cringe”, and a bottle of whisky for when neither works.
Instagram’s AI age checks are going global this week. If it scanned my face right now, I reckon it’d skip “adult” and go straight to “pension”.
Have a great weekend!
Goodbye, geeks!
P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant
