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Hello, geeks!

Welcome to this week’s Geekout!

Before we dive into the what went down on social this week…

A massive thank you for all the love last week about my engagement. ❤️ 💍

I was genuinely blown away — over 300 of you sent emails, DMs, and comments. I tried to reply to as many as I could!

Special shoutout to the super-talented Byron Richards and Anna Soler at Cafe Mambo Ibiza….

…They clocked what was happening mid-proposal, jumped into action, and captured amazing footage and photos of the big moment.

They even DM’d me on Instagram asking what music I wanted, and turned it into a seriously romantic Reel. Smooth operators. 💕

It went up on Café Mambo’s Instagram last week and has already racked up over 62,000 views.

Watch the full Reel here (or below) 👇

mamboibiza

522K followers

View more on Instagram

My friends and family are convinced I choreographed the whole thing — the filming, the sparklers, the champagne (all kindly gifted by Café Mambo)…

…I did not. But I’ll take the fiancé points anyway. 😇

Annnnyway… Before the “Matt, this is a social media newsletter, not Love Island” replies start flooding in…

Here’s my wild Ibiza weekend in 120 seconds 🕺👇

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3 cool things
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✨ 34 EASY fixes to get ChatGPT recommending you + your content — Not your competitors!
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🔥 130,000+ creators, marketers & industry insiders read this. You should too — It’s one of my TOP 5 newsletters.
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😮 This AI predicts your next winning social ad — before you even make it. Wild! [ad]

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SPONSORED - FREE A.I. CHECKLIST
Your Content Slaps. But ChatGPT Can’t See It — How to Fix That in 5 Mins

You’ve nailed LinkedIn carousels.
Your Instagram Reels engagement is rising.
You’ve built a legit community on TikTok.

But AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity aren’t surfacing your brand when people ask questions...

...And Google search traffic is down 34% this year!

If your content isn’t AI-friendly, you’re invisible. 😬

That’s why fatjoe dropped a FREE 34-step checklist showing exactly how to get your brand or content picked up by the AI chatbots.

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• 🧠 How to make AI chatbots mention your brand, content, products, and people

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. X launched a handles marketplace, letting Premium+ users buy inactive @names… But it may cost you $$$ [EXTORTING]

3. Meta lawyers accused of advising employees to block or remove internal research on teen mental health harm [BURYING]

4. Meta cuts 600 AI jobs, as it “streamlines” its huge Superintelligence operation [AXING]

5. Mark Zuckerberg, Adam Mosseri, and Evan Spiegel ordered to testify in landmark trial over social media’s harm to kids [RECKONING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Hot X handles cost a lot, but what are they worth?

“Twitter goldrush on the way. Old usernames to be released.”

That’s a story my Geekout collaborator Martin SFP Bryant broke not this week, but FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, when Twitter told him it would soon start releasing inactive usernames for new users.

It never happened, despite many rumours and hints that it might be on the roadmap.

Now, it’s finally almost here, but you might have to pay a pretty penny. As Karissa Bell at Engadget explains:

But if you have your eye on a prized handle and have the bank balance to get it, be careful. You need to be a paying X subscriber… and if you stop subscribing, you’ll go back to your original handle 😬

While it’s good to see that some great handles will be up for usage again, it’s just a shame it’s happened at a time when a handle on the platform means far less than it used to.

Your dream handle might cost a lot, its value isn’t what it was at Twitter’s mid-2010s peak of relevance.

Do you really want to stand out on a platform where you’re surrounded by the racists and hatemongers Elon’s algorithm likes to boost?

It’s sure not enough to tempt me back.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

• Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses are now shipping and available in stores for $500

• Meta allowed a deepfake of an Irish presidential candidate to spread for 12 hours, clocking up 30,000 views, before it was removed

• Meta and LiveRamp have partnered to let retailers measure if Meta ads lead to real-world sales

• Meta is eliminating roles in its Risk division as automation takes over routine tasks

• Facebook added a ‘Ride the Trend Now’ feature under the Monetization section for Pages, highlighting relevant trending hashtags

• Facebook is working on an option to temporarily hide ‘People You May Know’ suggestions

• Facebook is introducing new Page types, simplifying them into two categories: Business Pages and Creator Pages

• Messenger started showing ‘People You May Know’ suggestions on the app’s main page

• Meta made big changes to engaged-view attribution for video ads

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• Instagram now lets teens change their app icon to six quirky new styles… Although critics say they look like “tattoos drawn by children” 💀Instagram is testing YouTube-style skippable ads for Reels

• Instagram now lets you draw doodles or drop stickers and emojis in DMs

• Instagram could soon increase the number images or videos we can add in a carousel post

• Instagram Edits app got improved voiceover recording and Halloween themed spooky effects and fonts

• Instagram has been spotted using new URL formats for Reels

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• WhatsApp will now alert users before they share screens with unknown contacts

• WhatsApp will block general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity from using its Business API from January. Meta says they overload infrastructure

  …and OpenAI has reacted by helping businesses keep conversations going on its own apps

• WhatsApp is tackling spam by limiting the number of messages people and businesses can send without a response

• WhatsApp is working on the ability to reserve a username in advance of the upcoming rollout

• WhatsApp successfully blocked spyware maker NSO Group from targeting its users, thanks to a permanent legal injunction

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to mention all members in group chats

• WhatsApp is working on a ‘Share to Instagram’ option in its share sheet

• WhatsApp is rolling out the ability to filter media files, including stickers, through a revamped interface

• WhatsApp is widely testing the ability to add a Facebook link to your profile through Meta Accounts Center

• WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to manage storage directly within the chat info screen

  __________

• Threads’ new custom ‘Like’ button animations have been spotted for the NBAThreads and Ateez Atiny topics.

• Threads has been spotted removing the ability to have the chronological feed as the default

• Threads now shows a small preview of a post description in the reply UI

• Threads updated its search results page with a sort filter and an option to view related profiles

• Threads started showing the name of music tracks playing on cross-posted videos from Instagram

__________

• X is testing an in-app browser that keeps engagement buttons and the original post visible when users click links

• X added an option to stop people downloading your videos

• X introduced flexible, pay-per-use API pricing aimed at regaining favour with developers (a story almost as old as Twitter!)

• X is testing a slicker version of its Android app

• X now has an option on iOS to sort reposts by ‘Top’ and ‘Recent’

__________

• TikTok’s new policies have removed its promise to notify users before sharing user data with governments

• TikTok’s ongoing US uncertainty has marketers rethinking next year’s budgets

  …but TikTok is telling marketers to proceed with Q4 plans, and no platform changes will happen before 2026

• TikTok now lets you post subscriber-only photos

• TikTok reduced Western leadership influence by shifting responsibility for global content and distribution to ByteDance veteran Fiona Zhi,

• TikTok Shop is pushing sellers to adopt GMV Max, an ad tool that promotes creator videos linking exclusively to TikTok Shop. Sellers hate it

• TikTok now lets you press and hold to access more options for your videos

• TikTok added a new Halloween-themed font

• TikTok revealed its UK and Nordic Ad Awards shortlists for 2025, recognising top campaigns from across the regions

__________

• YouTube launched voice replies, smarter ad-supported courses, tagging grouped products, threaded comments, and more

• YouTube now lets you set a daily time limit for scrolling Shorts on your phone, and added Halloween-themed features

• YouTube is rolling out its redesigned video player to Android and iOS

• YouTube nuked 3,000 videos that sowed malware disguised as cracked software

• YouTube partnered with TalkShopLive to enable seamless, in-stream purchases

• YouTube clarified that only creators not banned for copyright or severe misconduct may reapply a new ‘Second Chance’ account, and only after a one-year wait

• YouTube is rolling out the Co-Post feature to more creators

• YouTube brought 300 creators to its Holiday House event to boost holiday shopping via creator-led promotions

__________

• Snap’s augmented reality OS now has in-app payments, permission alerts, and more

• Snap is aiming to raise $1 billion for its AR glasses division, with ongoing talks involving Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

• LinkedIn is offering paid gigs for users to label data and train its AI systems

• Reddit has sued Perplexity and three data firms for allegedly illegally scraping user content

• Twitch is shifting from blanket bans to targeted enforcement, so chat infractions won’t always impact streaming

• Twitch is working on the ability to stream from Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses with a first-person viewpoint

• Telegram added an option to show or hide +18 content

• Airbnb added new social features that let guests connect with others attending the same experience

• The White House is already one of the most blocked accounts on Bluesky, after a number of US government accounts set up on the app

__________

🔥 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 media AI features spotted this week:

Facebook’s new AI collage tool scans your phone’s photo library to suggest personalised edits and recap videos… and train Meta’s AI 😬

Also spotted this week 👀

• Instagram's AI can now restyle your Stories — text, video, and all

• Instagram has been spotted offering a shortcut to the Meta AI app

• Messenger is introducing AI-powered scam detection in private chats

• WhatsApp is testing an image generator for Status posts

• YouTube is expanding Ask Studio, an AI chatbot that lives inside YouTube Studio to support creators

• YouTube rolled out its deepfake detection tool for creators

• YouTube added AI-powered Q&A stickers

• YouTube Shorts now lets you create your own music

• X is moving to a Grok-powered recommendation algorithm with the aim of a more relevant feed for each user

• xAI Grok Imagine videos now include built-in audio, plus improved motion and character consistency

• Snapchat’s open prompt AI Lens, Imagine, is now free to all users in the US

• OpenAI now lets estates and representatives of public figures opt out of Sora’s AI cameos

• OpenAI is set to add pet cameos, clip-stitching tools, and a social revamp to Sora. And Android app is also on the roadmap.

• Pinterest’s AI now predicts what you want to do next in the app to help keep you engaged

• Twitch is adding AI tools like Auto Clip to help creators turn long streams into TikTok-ready content

• Canva added a new, AI-powered conversational agent for templates

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💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I spoke to Management Today about how AI chatbots are coming to rip up your marketing plan:

“We’re entering a world where your brand isn’t just seen, it’s spoken about by AI, and if your product isn’t [AI] agent-friendly it may as well not exist.”

Register to read for free 👇

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💀 LOL

Meet your REAL boss…

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🌡️ VIRAL

TikTokers are stuffing their legs into their shirts and flapping arms like bird feet in a surreal new trend

Here are a couple of examples, including those kings of the jungle, Ant & Dec…

@antanddec

My ride or fly 🦅

@gingercrush4

Viral bird on arm video , bird on arm challenge, top ten bird on arm video #humor #funny #meme #bird #trends

Also going viral this week: 🔥

• What’s Up? TikTok can’t get enough of this viral 4 Non Blondes–Nicki Minaj remix (it’s a banger)

• Kids won’t stop chanting “6-7” in school, and teachers are done playing along

• This ancient Egyptian fertility god statue is going viral—and the reason is obvious when you see it

• What Is ‘Group 7’? Where the viral TikTok trend started

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🪧 BRANDS

The hot new trend in marketing is hating on AI.

Brands like Heineken, Aerie, Polaroid are ditching AI in their ads to stand out, after Coca-Cola and Toys “R” Us faced backlash for AI-generated holiday ads that felt emotionless.

More brand news this week: 👀

• Some creators say brands are delaying their holiday deals later than ever this year

• Comms teams once avoided Reddit, but brands like Sonos and Spotify now engage directly through new Reddit Pro tools

• Why Lionsgate hired TikTok fan editors to market movies

• Brands like Meta, Wawa, and Bath and Body Works aim to build Gen Z loyalty, campus by campus

• IAB will launch “CreatorFronts” in NYC next September, giving digital creators a dedicated ad-buying showcase

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

"Legacy Media Lies”

- xAI gave this confrontational (and completely unhelpful) response repeatedly when Business Insider asked it about claims the Elon Musk company used Hellboy II to train Grok to make “watchable” movies by 2026.

Beats the poop emoji, I guess? 💩

-
Also overheard this week: 👂

• “I think that has nothing to do with what I’m going to do.”

  -

  – Jeremy Strong says his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Network’ sequel ‘The Social Reckoning’ will be nothing like Jesse Eisenberg’s in the original

  -

• “The government urgently needs to plug gaps in the Online Safety Act (OSA), but instead seems complacent about harms from the viral spread of legal but harmful misinformation. Public safety is at risk, and it is only a matter of time until the misinformation-fuelled 2024 summer riots are repeated.”

  -

  – Chi Onwurah, chair of the UK Commons science and technology select committee, warns of a need for urgent amendments to the Online Safety Act

• "By reducing the size of our team, fewer conversations will be required to make a decision, and each person will be more load-bearing and have more scope and impact,"

  -

  – Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang explains 600 layoffs in Meta’s AI team

• “Signal is trusted by the security and hacker community, and hundreds of millions of others, BECAUSE they can examine it, and because on examination, it has shown to be robust, private, and secure–for over a decade.”

  -

  – Signal president Meredith Whittaker claps back at Elon Musk’s cal for people to dump the app for X Chat

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👀 MY FAV READS

“With realistic AI videos flooding the timeline, social media is becoming a fake content machine.“

Also check out:

• For today’s young creators, chaos reigns

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😮 WTF?!

Donald Trump this week shared an AI video of himself dumping sludge (that’s one word for it!) on protesters from a plane labeled “King Trump”.

His fans loved it, but ‘No Kings’ protestors, and Kenny Loggins (whose ‘Danger Zone’ song was used without permission) weren’t so keen…

Also WTF this week: 👀

• A $60 mod to Meta’s Ray-Bans disables its privacy-protecting recording light 😬

• Deepfake harassment tools are spreading unchecked online. X is the biggest amplification hub according to a new report, hosting over 70% of 400,000+ mentions tied to these apps - mostly driven by bots

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

BBC Scotland needs a Creative (Social Media) [Glasgow, Scotland, UK]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• The British Council is hiring a Content & Media Lead [London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester or Belfast, UK]

• Greenpeace is looking for a Social Media Advisor [Remote, Australia]

• Liberty is recruiting a Social Media Team Lead [Cardiff, Wales, UK]

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👌 PRO TIPS

A standout LinkedIn profile is more important than ever.

Here’s how to make it happen for yourself or a client…

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• 8 tips for creators from Amelia Dimoldenberg's Chicken Shop Date 10 year anniversary celebration

• LinkedIn shared top video tips to hook viewers

• A new guide from LinkedIn looks at how B2B marketers are changing their strategies in line with the latest tools and trends

• Reddit trends in 2025: How marketers can track what’s next

• Reddit highlighted Halloween marketing opportunities on the platform

• Pinterest shared tips to help maximise holiday sales

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

$8 BILLION

– The amount YouTube paid the music industry from July 2024 to June 2025, up $2 billion since 2022

Even more social stats: 📈

• GRIM: Meta’s own research reveals teens reporting body dissatisfaction see nearly 3x more “eating disorder-adjacent” posts on Instagram

• NEWS LEADER: Facebook strengthened its position as 2025’s leading news engagement platform, with a 17% Q3 boost

• SPOOKTACTULAR: Halloween makeup content on YouTube has racked up over 1 billion views in 2025.

• TRUSTED: 43% of Gen Z trust brands recommended by YouTubers they follow

• SPONCON: Sponsorships have exploded on YouTube this year, with a 54% jump and over 65,000 branded videos in H1 2025

• FLOPPED: Washington Post YouTube views crashed 85% after TikTok creator Dave Jorgenson left in May

• IN THE BLACK: Reddit’s Q2 ad revenue surged 84% to $465M, fueling its most profitable quarter ever

• HOT SHOP: Over 500,000 creators now use YouTube Shopping with AI-powered product links

• DISCOVERY: 61% of Gen Z use YouTube to discover new brands

• THE HUMAN TOUCH: Authentic UGC vs AI content: marketers weigh in

• SEXY MONEY: OnlyFans has paid $25 billion to creators since launching in 2016, according to CEO Keily Blair.

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📈 CHARTED

This is useful… The most popular types of creator content around the world:

Even more charts:

• BOT APPEAL: How Meta AI’s app downloads spiked after the launch of the ‘Vibes’ AI video feed

• TANKED: How social media referrals to news sites plunged as platforms cracked down on links

• LINKEDUP: The growth of ad spending on LinkedIn

• LOBBYCRAFT: Meta led tech lobbying spend in Q3 2025

• BEAST MODE: MrBeast’s YouTube channel has skyrocketed to nearly 100B views as of September 2025.

• TOP SOURCES: YouTube and Reddit are the most-cited domains cited in AI-generated answers across popular AI products

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• The EU has accused Meta of failing to police illegal content online as it gears up to hand the company a potentially hefty fine. [Financial Times $$$]

• EU states are split over what to do about protecting kids from social media harm. [Politico]

• The New York Times has launched a TikTok-inspired ‘Watch’ tab. [AdWeek $$$]

• Instagram is working on moving the Shots icon to a new position. [@theahamedghanem]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

“Thank you for your attention to this matter”: the psychological power of Trump’s current favourite social post phrase…

More great weekend reads:

• AI creators are already taking over social platforms and getting paid

• TikTok didn’t mean to become a breaking news platform - but it did

• A lot of journalists left Twitter once Elon Musk took over. Does he want them back now?

• How LBC turned rants and radio into a YouTube juggernaut

• Why Gen Z can’t stop watching bad takes

• Are influencers too big for Hollywood?

• As social media age restrictions spread, is the internet entering its Victorian era?

• Meta continues to miss the mark with new app additions

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😳 AND FINALLY…

As he prepares to play Mark Zuckerberg in upcoming movie ‘The Social Reckoning’, how is Jeremy Strong getting into the Zuck mindset?

Some say Strong is already channeling Zuck’s awkward voice and dead-eyed delivery half way through this recent interview… 😳👇

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

That’s all folks!

I’m heading off to chase the AMEX x Tiffany & Co x Geekout collab to help pay down that engagement ring.

No reply as yet. Maybe it went to their spam folder? 🤔

My kids are praying their stockings aren’t going to be impacted this Christmas. 🎅🏻

Goodbye, geeks!

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