Advertise in Geekout
Prev sponsors incl: Semrush, VEED, TikTok
2026 ad discounts now available
👉 Request More Info

Hello, geeks!

Where did all the time go? 💨 📅 💨

You know you’re approaching year-end when your Instagram feed is end-to-end Spotify Wrapped posts!

Sadly, I’m locked into the Apple ecosystem, with Apple Music, and can’t join in the fun.

But the brands (and their social media managers)? They’re all over it.

Meanwhile…

Whilst everyone else is wrapped up in wraps… The Geekout homepage’s 2026 glow-up is nearly complete.

Here’s what it looks like right now. 👇 Pretty basic and functional! 🫣

With thanks to Geekout friend and super-skilled designer Ryan Downie (highly recommend hiring him btw), we’ve given it a much needed upgrade.

Here’s a sneak peek: 👀

Up next: a revamped design for the newsletter itself.

We’re working on optimising formatting, spacing, section layouts, and more, to enhance readability.

And we’re adding a few fun (geeky) design elements to give you all the best social media debriefing on the internet, every Friday in 2026.

-
P.S. I spotted these. Super-useful. Check them all 👇
-

this is gold! 🔥 a no-BS guide to showing up in ChatGPT, Google AI search, and TikTok / Instagram explore — before people click!

________

🤐 the Competitor Intel Playbook your rival’s social team hope you never find

________

save this! 🪝 Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook ads flopping? 54 viral ad hooks you can steal. free cheatsheet

________

this is cool! 😮 Get a personalised 360° AI visibility snapshot for your brand — Just add ONE comment on this LinkedIn post. [ad]

SPONSORED – 2026 INSIGHTS – FREE PLAYBOOK

Your Competitors Are Feeding You Content Ideas — Are You Paying Attention?

Your competitors are feeding You content ideas (without knowing it!)

While you’re scrambling to fill your holiday content calendar...

The smartest brands are quietly studying formats, hooks, and angles that already work (straight from competitors).

Measure Studio’s Competitive Intelligence Playbook teaches you how to:

  • 🔍 Track what’s working for competitors (and what to skip)

  • 📈 Spot viral content hooks before they trend

  • 🔥 Convert competitor wins into scroll-stopping content

Also inside:

  • 🗂️ Competitor Intelligence Templates you can copy, tweak, and launch in < 1 HOUR

  • 📊 Global Brand Case Studies, like how Dairy Queen beat Starbucks by 14x with ONE Reel

  • 🚀 Battle-Tested Tactics used by top social teams to BOOST performance up to 73x

This isn’t a dull theory dump -- It's a step-by-step playbook of smart strategies, decoded, and ready to implement.

Start building your 2026 Competitor Intelligence strategy now... Before your rivals get ahead.

👉 Grab the Competitive Intelligence Playbook now!

🔓 Unlock Social Intel File

🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

Meta plans to slash metaverse spending as Zuckerberg shifts focus to AI

Social media company considering cutting unit’s budget by as much as 30%

  1. Elon Musk’s X fined €120m by EU in first clash under new digital laws [PUNISHING]

  2. Instagram + Facebook begin shutting down accounts as Australia’s teen social media ban approaches [PURGING]

  3. EU hits Meta with antitrust probe over plans to block AI rivals from WhatsApp [SCRUTINIZING]

  4. TikTok’s U.S. sale deadline nearing with no deal yet approved by China [DEADLOCKING]

SPONSORED - SOCIAL ADS - FREE CHEATSHEET

Instagram + TikTok Ads Flopping? Steal These 54 Viral Hooks Before Q5 Ends

Still spending on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram ads — but conversions tanking? 😬

The holiday rush isn’t over. But your best ad hooks might be!.

Your go-to creators… Already maxed out? Your ad ideas… Feeling stale and overused?

Let’s fix that fast. Grab this! 

Insense’s 2025 Ad Hook Cheatsheet with 54 viral ad hook ideas— made for marketers under pressure.

You’ll Learn:

  • 🧪 Test smarter: Ready-to-use hooks that speed up testing

  • 🔥 Stand out: Use verbal + visual formats that break scroll fatigue

  • ⏱️ Create faster: Brief creators to shoot in under 2 weeks

  • 🪝 Hook customers: With what’s actually working this season

What’s Inside the Cheatsheet:

  • 🗂️ 47 plug-and-play hooks for captions + scripts

  • 💡 7 visual ideas: skits, reveals, fake podcasts, and more

  • 📅 Timeline tips to launch high-performing ads faster

  • 🧠 Quick UGC sourcing strategies for last-minute campaigns

Used by social teams at HelloFresh, Huda Beauty, Bones Coffee, and Flo Health

👉 Grab the 2025 Ad Hooks Cheatsheet... It's free!

P.S. Still need help? Insense’s in-house team can handle it all — concepts, creative, and campaign delivery. Worth a look!

👀 Check the Cheatsheet

🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Meta doesn’t need the metaverse to be a hit anymore

Meta Weighs Cuts to Its Metaverse Unit

When Facebook announced it was renaming itself Meta, it was a bold statement of intent: the metaverse was the next big paradigm in social media, and Mark Zuckerberg was going to be leading the way.

Four years on, things look a lot less certain on that front.

Just a year after that rebrand, OpenAI launched ChatGPT and it quickly became clear that it was an AI revolution that was the REAL next big tech shift.

Now Meta seems to be taking tentative steps to somewhat back away from the metaverse, as the New York Times reported yesterday:

❝

Meta is considering making cuts to a division in its Reality Labs unit that works on the so-called metaverse, said three employees with knowledge of the matter.

The cuts could come as soon as next month and amount to 10 to 30 percent of employees in the Metaverse unit, which works on virtual reality headsets and a V.R.-based social network, the people said. The numbers of potential layoffs are still in flux, they said.

It’s important to note that Meta isn’t abandoning the metaverse entirely, and the NYT says the company expects to “shift the savings from the cuts into investments in its augmented reality glasses.”

But AR isn’t the metaverse vision we were originally sold, which was all about virtual worlds you could hop between. AR is more about overlaying information and experiences onto the real world. It’s hard to call that a ‘metaverse’.

Still, AR and AI combining in smart glasses is a FAR more appealing product to more people. It remains to be seen how social it will be, but if Meta can make a profit from it, they won’t really care.

Just this week, it was revealed that Meta has poached a top Apple design exec to work on future smart glasses. Walk around a big city and you will see people wearing the company’s smart glasses today. This is a space Zuck can dominate NOW, not something he has to hope will become the next big thing eventually.

…and of course, Meta is pretty good at the whole AI thing, which has turned out to be the company’s biggest R&D focus. It just doesn’t NEED the metaverse anymore.

While Meta’s headsets continue to lead the way for VR gaming and some not-yet-very-popular social and work experiences, maybe that’s what they’re best for.

The metaverse could still become a big thing some time in the future (maybe…?), but for now Zuck can relax about trying to convince us to join him in badly rendered meta-Paris.

In the long run, the name ‘Meta’ might just be a reminder that in tech, not every big bet works out the way you hope.

✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta Meta / Facebook Facebook / Messenger Messenger

__________

Instagram  Instagram

Instagram’s new ‘Early Access’ feature for Reels | Image: @oncescuradu

  • Instagram is testing a new ‘Early access’ feature, letting creators give their follows a sneak peek at new Reels 24 hours before everyone else

  • Instagram appears to be testing a hard cap of three hashtags per post for some users

  • Instagram is forcing all staff to return to the office full time from February 2026

  • Instagram has been spotted testing a co-posting feature for Stories

  • Instagram’s latest API update brings five new insights, better content management, and more to third-party social media management tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social

  • Instagram is considering a ‘Stabilise video’ feature for Edits

__________

Threads  Threads /  WhatsApp  WhatsApp

Threads testing a new ‘dear algo’ feature | Image: Meta

__________

TikTok  TikTok

TikTok’s ‘Nearby’ feed rolling out to more countries | Image: TikTok

  • TikTok is rolling out a ‘Nearby’ feed in the UK, France, Germany, and Italy, letting you discover hyper-local videos based on your location

  • TikTok’s awards in Sydney were hit with racism claims after creators were blocked from red carpet

  • TikTok faces a request for royalties from Jorja Smith’s label after a song that featured an AI-enhanced voice that sounded like her became a hit on the platform

  • Hundreds of UK moderators have now left TikTok - sparking safety fears as they are replaced with AI

  • TikTok Shop prices are surging as big brands and tariffs reshape the marketplace

  • TikTok has been blamed by Hillary Clinton for misinformation influencing young people’s views on Israel and Palestine

  • TikTok now lets you repost live videos

  • TikTok now has a quick way to check if your account has been suspended

__________

YouTube  YouTube

YouTube’s 2025 Wrapped feature launched | Image: YouTube

  • YouTube launched its own version of Spotify Wrapped, with a year-end recap for your viewing habits

  • YouTube rolled out title A/B testing globally to creators

  • YouTube’s new AI deepfake tracking tool is alarming experts and creators⁠⁠ because it asks users for biometric videos and ID

  • YouTube unveiled Partner Match, a new ad targeting feature using third-party hashed data

  • YouTube TV could launch cheaper, flexible packages in 2026, including sports-only, kids, and entertainment bundles

  • YouTube has allegedly changed its Shorts algorithm to prioritise fresh videos over older ones. A former director for MrBeast called out the change as bad for creators

  • YouTube has added an Image sticker for Shorts

__________

Discord Discord / Reddit Reddit / Snapchat Snapchat

Discord’s 2025 Wrapped feature ‘Checkpoint’ | Image: Discord

  • Discord launched its own ‘Wrapped’. Checkpoint lets users recap their usage of the platform over the year

  • Discord now lets you buy and gift video game skins

  • Reddit is scrapping r/popular as its default feed, calling it misleading and unappealing. It will be replaced by a personalised feed

  • Reddit users will soon be restricted to moderating a maximum of 5 communities with 100K+ weekly visitors, to curb ‘powermod’ influence

  • Snapchat launched a festive ‘Winter Village’ AR activation, showcasing luxury brands in an immersive lens experience

  • Snapchat launched a new Wix integration to simplify ad creation

__________

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

Just head to the ‘More news’ section below!

🤖 SOCIAL AI

The newest social media AI features spotted this week:

Threads is testing AI-powered summaries on user profiles, letting you see how you’ve interacted with a user in the past.

Threads Experiments With AI Interaction Summaries on Profiles

__________

Also spotted this week 👀

💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I spoke to BBC News about the growing trend of influencers using AI to create fake images of themselves with animals.

It’s engagement bait of the sloppiest kind… and it’s only going to get worse in 2026 😬

💀 LOL

🌡️ VIRAL

This terrifying ad is a powerful reminder to parents:

Don’t over-share details about your children on social media. Seriously, give it a watch….

__________

Also going viral this week: 🔥

🪧 BRANDS

Spotify Wrapped is now an annual tradition, both for users to share their listening histories (and listening ages this year!)…

…and for brands to get on board with the parodies.

Instagram post
Instagram post

ICYMI…. PR Week has rounded up more of the best brand Wrapped parodies.

__________

More brand news this week: 👀

👀 MY FAV READS

The idea of using a dating app linked to your Facebook account would rightly fill many people with horror.

And yet somehow Facebook Dating is a success. So who’s on it?

Mashable signed up to find out 😮

Facebook Dating review: Who is actually using it?

😲 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“r/popular sucks”

– Reddit CEO Steve Huffman explains why the platform is moving towards a more personalised homepage

__________

Also overheard this week: 👂

  • “Zuck actually went and hand-delivered soup to people that he was trying to recruit from us”

    -

    – OpenAI chief research officer Mark Chen on Meta’s push to poach staff from the company

  • “We are more creative and collaborative when we are together in-person”

    -

    – Adam Mosseri explains why he wants all Instagram staff back in the office full time

  • "I am not intimidated by big tech because I understand the moral imperative of what we're doing,"

    -

    – Australia's Communications Minister Anika Wells defends the country’s ban on under-16s using social media

🗓️ BEST OF 2025

Looking back at the year:

Oh, I certainly feel this one… 🫩

The most popular new emoji of 2025 is “Face with Bags Under the Eyes,” according to Emojipedia.

The best emojis of 2025

__________

More 2025 roundups: 👀

😮 WTF?!

This is wild and very funny. Fight the AI slop!

“After noticing an AI Facebook page was ripping off his posts, one man found a clever way of getting revenge….”

Man Realizes He Can Feed Poison Pills to Facebook AI Slop Page, Driving Its Followers Berserk

__________

Also WTF this week: 👀

🤦‍♂️ FAIL

Oops! YouTube tweeted “it’s okay to press pause,” which sparked fury from users who linked it to the platform’s annoying pause-screen ads

YouTube’s social media managers probably only wanted to promote mindfulness, but the replies on perma-angry X were filled with mockery, calling out YouTube’s ad practices and Premium paywall.

The tweet was ratioed so badly it earned a Community Note correcting its interpretation. 😬

YouTube inadvertently reminds viewers pause ads exist, immediately gets ratioed

More fails:

👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

The NFL is hiring a Director, International Social Content – EMEA [London, UK]

__________

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

🧪 SOCIAL SCIENCE

X doesn’t HAVE to be a nightmare of political rage…

A new Stanford-led study showed X feeds can reduce political polarisation.

Researchers re-ranked posts using AI to downplay toxic content. Users exposed to calmer feeds felt warmer toward political opponents.

Simple changes cut rage bait without censoring or removing posts.

How researchers reversed polarization on X with a simple change to the algorithm

__________

Also:

  • Children with smartphones by age 12 face a higher risk of depression, obesity, and poor sleep

👌 PRO TIPS

Meta has revealed top tactics for Instagram Reels that actually convert…

Deconstructing the Power of Reels: How Creative Strategies Can Drive Success

__________

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

📊 SOCIAL STATS

800,000+

– The number of UK toddlers that are hooked on adult social media, according to the Centre for Social Justice

__________

Even more social stats: 📈

  • TOP TUBE: YouTube is the most-used platform of 2025, used by 72% of consumers and marketers, according to DoubleVerify

  • CREATING RESULTS: TikTok says creator-driven ads deliver 70% more clicks and 159% more engagement at same cost as ads without creators

  • OLDER INFLUENCE: Influencer video consumption by US adults aged 55–64 has jumped from 44% to 54% since 2020

  • BIG BUCKS: TikTok Shop generated over $500 million in US sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, up from $100 million last year

  • SCAM FIGHT: Meta says it removed over 134 million scam ads in 2025 and cut scam-ad reports by more than 50%

  • LIVE ECONOMY: TikTok Live viewers are buying enough virtual gifts to pay 60,000 creators a part-time salary

📈 CHARTED

The most visited websites in the US, as of the middle of 2025

__________

Even more social charts: 📈

💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

The Trump administration’s latest wild idea…

People who have worked as content moderators, fact-checkers, or in online safety (and their families!) from around the world could be denied visas to work in the US under new rules reported by Reuters…

Exclusive: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants of H-1B visa

An internal State Department memo said that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection.

_________

Also this week… 🚨

  • UK regulator Ofcom is considering VPN crackdown after age verification workarounds by teens surge. [TechRadar]

  • Russia banned Snapchat and FaceTime, alleging their use in terrorism, recruitment, and fraud. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Ireland’s media regulator opened probes into TikTok and LinkedIn over content reporting flaws. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • YouTube is finally set to comply with Australia’s under-16s ban. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Australian teens have been switching to Lemon8 to avoid age restrictions, but the app is going add its own. [The Guardian]

  • Yann LeCunn says Meta won’t invest in his new AI startup, focused on physical-world prediction models. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • WhatsApp and other messaging platforms in India will need to comply with new rules requiring SIM binding and automatic web session logouts. [WABetaInfo]

  • TikTok owner ByteDance's Doubao app is now China's most popular mobile AI platform, with more than 11.4 million downloads in October. [Bloomberg $$$]

    …and Doubao is now embedded into a ZTE smartphone. [South China Morning Post]

  • NBCUniversal is reviving its ‘Creator Collective’ for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. [The Hollywood Reporter]

  • Hundreds of Australians have complained of wrongful social media account closures since 2023, but the country’s ombudsman can’t help. [The Guardian]

New features and updates:

  • Facebook now allows creators and businesses to compare posts directly from the Professional Dashboard. [@theahmedghanem]

  • Facebook Business Pages now have the ability to accept calls via Messenger. [@jonahmanzano]

  • Facebook seems to be testing new designs for the apps’s main menu… [@oncescuradu]

    …and the post creation sheet [@theahmedghanem]

  • Messenger added shortcuts to access Facebook Reels and Events directly from the app. [@theahmedghanem]

  • WhatsApp is testing new notification settings for Public Channels to manage follower activity and admin updates. [@theahmedghanem]

  • TikTok is encouraging users to directly share content by promoting the “Repost” button on some videos. [@oncescuradu]

  • TikTok updated its side panel, adding quick access to Live, Subscriptions and Series. [@jonahmanzano]

  • TikTok now lets you enable or disable visual search on your content. [@theahmedghanem]

  • TikTok has moved Dual Camera controls to Live Settings. [@theahmedghanem]

📰 WEEKEND READS

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

“Employers used to hate it. Now Starbucks, Delta and others are recruiting staffers to create social-media content about life at work.”

The New, In-Demand Job Skill: Being a TikTok Influencer for Your Company

😳 AND FINALLY…

Artist Beeple has turned Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos into robot dogs for new exhibition.

Zuck’s robo-pooch poops out photos with a glossy “metaverse” filter.

It’s part satire, part spectacle, mocking Big Tech’s grip on how we see the world.

1,028 poop prints will be handed out, with 256 claimable as NFTs—wrapped in cheeky “Excrement Sample” bags.

Just another normal day in the 21st century, then. 💩😳

Beeple Brings Tech Billionaires as Pooping Robot Dogs to Miami

gizmodo.com/musk-bezos-and-zuckerberg-are-full-of-shit-literally-in-new-art-exhibit-2000695745

📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

That’s this week’s Geekout. Wrapped! ✅

Before you go. Check this out…

__________

Geekout’s NEW Swipe Files on LinkedIn

Every week, I share a NEW Geekout Swipe File on LinkedIn.

The best bits of Geekout, in one super-useful LinkedIn carousel.

All the top stories, new platform features, viral trends, with a speedy summary of what you need to know.

Great for sharing with your teams at work and your network on LinkedIn…

….To keep them up to date with everything new in social.

Here’s last week’s Geekout Swipe File.

Follow me on LinkedIn to make sure they show up in your feed.

Goodbye, geeks!

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

Reply

or to participate

Keep Reading

No posts found