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Hello, geeks!

I don’t want to stress you out, but it’s only 48 days until Christmas.

The real nightmare before Christmas is looming…

Holiday season social media post scheduling! Urgh! 😭

Time to place that bulk order of wine and an anti-anxiety meds.

Annnnnyway…

Some of the news generating drama (and wild headlines) in social this week…

• Mark Zuckerberg has been running an illegal school at his home… And it was named after Zuck’s pet chicken…

  -

  Wait…. Say that again?! 🤯
  -

• xAI forced its employees to hand over biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend…

  -

  I swear i’m not making this s**t up! 🤣

And

• Instagram got hit with a cease-and-desist order over its use of the 'PG-13' label for teen accounts…

  -

  Zuck copy/pasting a feature rather than innovating? Sounds like business as usual at Meta HQ to me. 🤷‍♂️

But before we get in to that…

I just spotted these 👇

👀 What’s ChatGPT saying about you + your content? This tool shows you! — if you can handle it. 🫣
-

🔥 100 genius ChatGPT prompts for stressed-out social media managers. [ad]

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That’s where Semrush One comes in. I gave it a test drive—and the insights were wild.

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. Meta is making billions of dollars from scam ads on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, internal docs show [PROFITING]

3. TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and Snap must face trial over claims that they designed platforms to addict youths, judge rules [RECKONING]

4. xAI used employee biometric data to train Elon Musk’s AI girlfriend [DISTURBING]

5. Meta is bringing its TikTok-style video feed of AI slop to Europe [SPREADING]

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.

🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Facebook doesn’t connect us the way Meta says it does

“A little connection goes a long way”, states the tagline to Facebook’s new video ad.

No arguments there, but can you really still find much of that connection on Facebook?

Watch the ad and tell me if it feels to you like Facebook feels today…

Today connections like that typically happen through one-to-one chats and group chats, not Facebook.

Scrolling through my Facebook feed today, I see the occasional personal family post from someone I kind-of know.

But the majority of posts are from desperate publishers pushing clickbait titles for lame news stories, nostalgia posts about what places used to look like, and plenty of ragebait from pages I don’t follow, trying to get me angry about some celebrity or other.

We stare at our Facebook feeds, we engage with them, we might even be entertained. But human connection as exemplified by that ad is very hard to find on modern Facebook.

AI looks set to make the situation worse. Meta is rolling out its Vibes feed more widely in the Meta AI app, while demand is high for OpenAI’s Sora app, which launched on Android this week.

The kind of content found in Sora and Vibes might be entertaining on a superficial level, but there’s no ‘connection’ there. It’s very easy to imagine Facebook starting to integrate Vibes content into your Facebook feed if it helps grow overall engagement with the feed.

Ewww… No thanks.

Maybe Meta is thinking about Facebook Dating with that ad. Looking for love on Facebook seems to be popular, despite being perhaps the most cringe way to find a date online.

Dating aside, Meta certainly does help create and nurture human connections. It’s just more likely to be via WhatsApp or your Instagram DMs than it is your Facebook feed.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

• Facebook now lets group admins switch from private to public while preserving past privacy

• Meta is sending out payments from its Cambridge Analytica scandal settlement. But if you filed a claim, the most you can expect is $38

• Meta opened a flagship store in West Hollywood to showcase AI glasses and VR headsets

• Meta Verified now displays how your account was protected over the past month before renewal

• Meta is offering $1.5 million in prizes for standout Quest apps and updates

• Meta’s Gen 1 Ray-Ban smart glasses have got a stealthy firmware boost that gives massively improved video stability

• Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses now let you call or text a contact with one tap.

• Facebook’s job ads algorithm is sexist, France’s equality watchdog has ruled

• Facebook is testing Reddit-style up/down votes on comments again

• Facebook has introduced a new “Earning Potential” section for Pages

• Facebook now lets you attach suggestions directly to your channel and share them with members

• Facebook added a new ‘Extra Bonus’ feature for selected creators, allowing them to earn more by cross-posting to Facebook Groups

• Facebook is testing a new layout for posts

__________

• Instagram Edits now has custom captions, colour correction and 28 new video effects

• Instagram launched Competitive Insights for professional accounts, letting users compare themselves against up to 10 rivals

• Instagram now highlights Reels created with Meta smart glasses and videos from the Meta AI Vibes feed

• Instagram now lets you share your customised ‘Your Algorithm’ settings as a Story

• Instagram has brought back the screenshot sharing sheet feature in DMs

• Instagram is rolling out a new Messaging tab for all users on desktop

• Instagram now lets you manage Story Highlights on desktop through Meta Business Suite

__________

• WhatsApp confirmed usernames will launch next year, and it may launch an early username reservation tool, allowing users to grab preferred @handles

• WhatsApp officially launched its long-awaited Apple Watch app

• WhatsApp is rolling out a Question sticker for Status posts

• WhatsApp is working on a feature new account security settings

• WhatsApp seems nearly ready to support third-party chats in the EU

• WhatsApp for Mac now lets you customise chat themes

• Apple Music will soon let you share songs and lyrics directly to a WhatsApp Status post

• Threads now offers time management tools to help users avoid endless scrolling.

__________

• xAI added new Upscale and Remix options for videos generated on Grok AI’s iOS app

• X is working on a standalone chat app

• A British MP is demanding Grok be shut down after it called him a “rape enabler”

• X is working on new AI features like AI-sorted top posts, and improved search

__________

• TikTok launched its first U.S. creator awards and announced its inaugural ‘new era, new icons’ nominees. Tune in live in-app on Dec 18 to see who wins.

• TikTok Shop is battling a surge in AI-generated scams flooding its marketplace

• TikTok is rolling out Bulletin Boards—a one-to-many update tool—for more creators and brands.

• TikTok partnered with Ford and Blue Star Families to host a first-of-its-kind livestreamed concert for Veterans Day

• TikTok is being investigated in France over content that promotes suicide

• TikTok is added a ‘Hot’ feed for treding audio, and new controls to tweak the volume of songs vs. voiceovers in videos

• TikTok is testing a new ‘New posts’ label when you search for accounts

• TikTok now automatically activates Picture-in-Picture mode when playing a clip on desktop

__________

• YouTube now has a ‘Edit with AI’ option when you create Shorts

• YouTube TV is quietly compensating some users for loss of Disney channels as the companies continue to be mired in a contract dispute

  …and YouTube rejected a request from Disney for it to restore access for election day

• YouTube is betting big on creator-led talk shows like Royal Court amid late-night TV’s collapse.

• YouTube quietly removed the close button on mobile side panel ads, locking you into half-screen promos

• YouTube quietly erased more than 700 videos documenting Israeli human rights violations after US pressure

• YouTube now splits paid and organic metrics to give creators better insight into ad performance vs. natural reach

• YouTube agreed to a $30 million settlement over claims it collected data from kids under 13 without consent

__________

• Pinterest launched a Festive Season Edit: hundreds of curated gift guides from influencers and celebs across 17 categories

• Pinterest now has 600 million monthly active users

  … And, Snapchat hit 477 daily million users, adding 8 million in Q3, but U.S. growth has stalled. Monthly active users has risen to 943 million, closing in on the 1 billion user milestone

• LinkedIn is cracking down on engagement pods with new tools to detect suspicious behaviour and cut the reach of inauthentically boosted posts

• LinkedIn is updating its policies to allow some rule-breaking content if it’s deemed newsworthy

• Bluesky hit 40 million total users and is testing a dislike button. It won’t show public counts, but it will influence which posts and replies users see

• Discord’s updated Family Center lets parents see teen call durations, recent contacts, and purchases

• Mastodon rolled out platform-wide quote posts, with tools to prevent X-style ‘dunking’

• ⁠CapCut is inviting users to join the its AI edit pilot

__________

🔥 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 AI

The newest social AI features + updates worthy of your attention

Perplexity has big ambitions to become THE AI search engine.

And this week it got a boost through a $400 million deal with Snap to slap it inside Snapchatter’s inboxes…

Also spotted this week 👀

• Meta shared details of how it invisibly watermarks AI videos to tackle the rising threat of deceptive, misleading deepfakes

• Meta AI has been spotted offering clip restyling for free for a limited time

• Meta quietly rolled out Voice Translation with Meta AI to more countries and languages

• TikTok added a bunch of new generative AI features for creators, including text-to-video, image animation, and smart transitions

• YouTube rolled out AI age verification to a new wave of users

• OpenAI finally launched Sora on Android, with nearly half a million downloads in the first 24 hours

• Adobe’s new experimental AI tool can edit entire videos using one frame

• Tinder’s new ‘Chemistry’ feature is an AI matchmaker that analyses your camera roll and quizzes you to find better matches.

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💀 LOL

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🌡️ VIRAL

“Older women are carving out a niche online for people who want authentic content.”

Also going viral this week: 🔥

• Cruise crew content is the internet’s newest addiction

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🪧 BRANDS

The dream of fully automated brand social media ad campaigns… isn’t quite ready for primetime yet. 😬

“…What do a granny, a contorted leg, and a flying car have in common? They're all bizarre ads recently whipped up by Meta's generative AI….“

More brand news this week: 👀

• Starring in videos is no longer just a job just for the social team. Brands like Delta and Portillo’s are turning everyday employees into social media stars

• Professional video editors aren’t keen on Lionsgate hiring TikTok fan creators to create social-first movie edits

• What brands should do about OpenAI’s Sora app

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“Boomerslop”

– Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos coins a term to describe the AI-generated nonsense filling up Meta AI’s Vibes video feed

-
Also overheard this week: 👂

• “…They want to use their power and extraordinary resources to eliminate competition and devalue the very content that helped them build their service…”

  -

  – Disney execs didn’t mince their words on their thoughts about YouTube TV in a memo to staff

  -

• “…The store was confused that we just wanted a sink and didn't care what the sink connected to… They were, like, almost not letting us buy the sink because they thought maybe we'd buy the wrong sink…."

  -

  – Elon Musk explains the story behind the famous ‘Let that sink in’ skit when he bought Twitter

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👀 MY FAV READS

The future of ads is AI-powered. But fears of soulless, dehumanised, hyper-targeted AI slop may be valid…

“…Ticketmaster's personalized AI slop ads are a glimpse at the future of social media advertising….”

"…Advertisers are increasingly just going to be able to give us a business objective and give us a credit card or bank account, and have the AI system basically figure out everything else…."

Also:

• How the world's richest man is boosting the British right

• The age of anti-social media is here

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😮 WTF?!

People can be awful. People armed with AI can be REALLY awful.

“Online harassers are generating images and sounds that simulate their victims in violent situations.”

Also WTF this week: 👀

• China now bans influencers from sharing opinions on law, health, finance, or education without a relevant degree

• The AI gold rush is fuelling a new revenue stream for creators: licensing archived content to train AI models. Peter Hollens made $33K in a year from licensing old videos—more than his YouTube ad revenue

• The White House posted a satirical ‘MySafeSpace’ page blaming Democrats for the shutdown. Some said it was a waste of taxpayers’ money

• Britney Spears’ Instagram account has vanished following posts responding to ex Kevin Federline’s memoir

• Mark Zuckerberg was visibly upset when Billie Eilish told billionaires to "give your money away, shorties" in a fiery awards speech

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🤦‍♂️ FAIL

YouTube has denied AI was involved with mistaken removals of tech tutorials. Creators aren’t so sure…

Also:

• TikTok users were furious about an apparent ‘ban’ on the trans flag emoji. But it appears to be a bug

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📲 NEW APP

Remember Foursquare? The location-sharing app was a big deal about 15 years ago. It lives on as Swarm, with a loyal band of users.

But now Foursquare’s original CEO and co-founder Dennis Crowley has revealed his new app, which features an AI-powered "DJ" called BeeBot who gives you local information and news about your friends.

Looking forward to trying this one, but it’s currently only available in the US on iOS

Also:

• Arcitext is a new AI-assisted writing tool. Yes, another one, but this one promises to be really good at sounding just like you, or drafting copy in your brand’s authentic tone of voice. Worth checking out!

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

Unicef needs a Senior Social Manager [Toronto, ON, Canada]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• The BBC is looking for a Social Media Executive – TV Social [Multiple cities, UK]

• Lloyds Banking Group is hiring a Social Media Content Creator [Edinburgh. Scotland, UK]

• GitHub is recruiting a Social Media Intern [Remote, USA]

.

🧪 SOCIAL SCIENCE

Sometimes, being really attractive isn’t the boon you might imagine…

“New research suggests that in a digital world full of influencers – trusted tastemakers with large online followings – being too attractive can actually backfire, particularly in the fitness space.

“We call this the ‘beauty backfire effect,’ and we put it to the test in a series of laboratory experiments.”

Also this week:

• A new study found a surprising source of social media toxicity

• AI tools and social media may be fuelling “brain rot” and cognitive decline

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👌 PRO TIPS

Trying to assemble a top-tier social team…?

This guide from Hootsuite shares “key roles, interview questions, and expert advice to build a winning social team.”

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• Snapchat is pushing marketers to activate holiday campaigns now, citing shifting shopper timelines

• Reddit’s tips for publishers: ‘Contribute without disrupting the vibe’

• Reddit is urging marketers to shift from SEO to AEO—Answer Engine Optimization—for AI-driven discovery

• Pinterest shared super-early tips for 2026 back-to-school campaigns on the platform

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

77%

The percentage of social media professionals who report feeling burnt out in 2025.

The new study of social pros, featured in Rachel Karten’s ‘Link-in-Bio’ newsletter, also revealed:

• 45% are considering leaving their role in social media

• 67% say they’re doing more than one job, with only 24% earning a promotion last year

• 2 - 3 people = The average social team size for small companies (<100 employees). In larger companies it's 5-9 people

• 38% say on-camera appearances is now part of their job

__________

Even more social stats: 📈

• SORA-ING DEMAND: Sora’s Android launch pulled in 470,000 installs on day one—four times its iOS debut.

• REDDIT TRAFFIC: Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed that roughly 50% of traffic to the platform comes from Google, while AI chatbots are still a tiny source of traffic

• STAKES IS HIGH: 24% of YouTube TV subscribers in the US say they have already canceled or plan to soon over the Disney dispute

• HOT DATE: Facebook Dating now has 21.5 million daily users across 52 countries

• CAUTIOUS: 90% of marketers believe AI will boost performance—but only 19% use it at scale

• WISHING WELL: Make-A-Wish says 32% of entertainment-related wishes now go to meeting online creators

• TINY TV: 43% of Gen Z prefer YouTube and TikTok to traditional TV and streaming

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📈 CHARTED

The rise of angry reactions on Facebook, charted by Matt Karolian

Even more social stats: 📈

• AD IT UP: AI-driven marketing tools that marketers are planning to adopt

• MAKE IT SNAPPY: Snapchat’s daily active users around the world, charted

• PIN UP: Pinterest’s gradual user growth, charted

• SOCIAL FUNNEL: Black Friday and Cyber Monday conversion from Reddit, charted

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• Reddit and Kick are the latest platforms targeted by Australia’s under-16s social media ban as list of platforms grows ahead of launch next month. [The Guardian]

• Meta’s Oversight Board overturned the removal of two Instagram posts shared during Eating Disorders Awareness Week. [Oversight Board]

• Meta says its latest AI upgrades are helping app advertisers drive stronger, smarter results. [Social Media Today]

• Election Day went well for TikTok's favorite politicians around the world [TubeFilter]

• Pinterest’s CEO says you’ll never be able to entirely filter out AI-generated content. [Fast Company $$$]

• Pinterest is leaning into open source AI to lower costs while scaling visual AI features. [TechCrunch]

• Singapore has passed a new law to force social platforms to remove harmful content. [Bloomberg $$$]

New features and updates:

• Meta now offers AI-assisted ads that help app and gaming advertisers focus on valuable conversions, not just volume. [Meta Newsroom]

• Meta Rights Manager Autoprotect will now help you identify content that may not be original to prevent potential account issues. [@theahmedghanem]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

“As social media has become older, more manipulable, and more automated by artificial intelligence, flouting online popularity has gained a new cachet.”

More great weekend reads:

• How TikTok cosied up to wealthy investors in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

• Journalists are souring on social media platforms, an analysis of 11 years of Nieman Lab predictions suggests

• What is Skylight? Here’s what you need to know about the TikTok alternative

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😳 AND FINALLY…

If you think you’ve had a bad week…

Just be grateful you don’t live next door to Mark Zuckerberg.

“…Neighbors complained about noise, security guards, and hordes of traffic…”

“An unlicensed school named after the Zuckerbergs’ pet chicken tipped them over the edge.”

Wait, what?! 😳

.

📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

That’s all folks. You are fully debriefed on everything that dropped in social this week.

I’m heading off to review my kids Christmas gift ideas.

My 12-year old son is about to get a reality check.

He just dropped a Christmas list that reads like a Vogue fashion shoot:

• Burburry Mens Scarf: £280 / $370!!

• Limited edition Christophe Duchamp Swiss Watch: £499 / $650!!!

Dude… you’re 12. You lose socks at school.

Your gran can knit you a scarf.

I’ll gift you my old Casio G-Shock.

And for your stocking fillers?

A can of Lynx (Axe) Africa and a multipack of AA batteries👌

Goodbye, geeks!

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