OpenAI just rewired social media — with your face

... And it’s already deepfaked my disturbing future

Author

Matt Navarra
October 03, 2025

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Hello, geeks!

Welcome back, folks…

It’s been a while since the internet collectively lost its mind over a buzzy new social app…

But this week? We’ve got a new one. And it’s coming in hot… OpenAI’s Sora.

If TikTok and ChatGPT had a chaotic, reality-bending lovechild — this would be it.

Sora is already blowing people’s minds… and also triggering panic across brands, celebs, and politicians who can see the deepfake disaster potential coming straight at them.

It’s already deepfaked me into a dark, disturbing deepfaked drama:

Scroll to the end of this week’s Geekout to discover my surprising (and traumatising) part-time job. 😆

🎟️ Get FREE Sora App Invite Code

Want to see what all the fuss is about? I have TWO Sora app invite codes to giveaway. Want one? 

Just share this week’s Geekout on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok etc. Make sure to include this link and tag me in your post so I see it.

Be quick. I will pick the winners + send invites by EOD Sat 4 Oct.

Heads-up: Sora is iOS-only and currently limited to the U.S. and Canada — unless you use a VPN and create a U.S./Canadian Apple App Store account to download the app.

Alrighty… before we dive into EVERYTHING new in social this week…

3 Good Things…

🔥 AI search is talking about your social posts. Here’s how to see what It’s saying 
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✨ This FREE newsletter lists 2,000 wild AI tools & 300+ powerful AI prompts you can copy/paste.
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SPONSORED - A.I. SEARCH - TOP TOOL
AI Search Is Talking About Your Social Posts — Here’s How to See What It’s Saying

Think AI search results are just about keywords? Think again!

ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude — they’re all scraping your social posts, mentions, hashtags, and memes to decide how (and if) your brand shows up in AI answers.

  • ⚡ A viral TikTok? It could boost your brand’s visibility.

  • 💀 A salty Reddit thread? That tone might follow you into search.

  • 🕵️ Your socials aren’t just content anymore. They’re AI training data.

AI doesn’t just see your content, it interprets your reputation.

  • 🔍 See how your brand appears across AI search platforms

  • 💬 Track which social mentions are helping (or harming) visibility

  • 🧭 Get step-by-step actions to optimize your presence

  • 📈 Stay discoverable, on-brand, and unmissable

Social media teams already juggle enough chaos…

At least this way, you’ll know what AI is really doing with your posts and mentions.

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

OpenAI’s new social video app will let you deepfake your friends

Make a cameo appearance in someone else’s AI video.

  1. Meta will use AI chatbot conversations to target ads on Facebook and Instagram [AD-TRACKING]

  2. Trump saying TikTok should be “100% MAGA” set off alarms about algorithmic political bias in the future [WEAPONIZING]

  3. Facebook and Instagram to offer £2.99 a month ad-free subscription in the UK [AD-BLOCKING]

  4. YouTube agreed to pay Trump $24.5M to settle lawsuit over account suspension [SETTLING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Has OpenAI just created the future of social media?

OpenAI made a TikTok for deepfakes, and it’s getting hard to tell what’s real

Who would have thought OpenAI could make a better job of a social app than Meta? Well, it’s happened.

The new social experience around OpenAI’s Sora 2 video generator is incredible. If the world needs an ‘AI-first TikTok’, they’ve nailed it - unlike Meta’s Vibes, which felt like a pointless load of slop.

The public agrees. Sora is only available on US and Canadian app stores, but there in the US it hit number 3 in the charts, and racked up 164,000 installs in just two days, with 56,000 on day one.

People are already buying and selling Sora app invite codes on eBay to skip the waitlist and farm new accounts.

So what’s so good about it? It’s the way it makes YOU the star of videos in a really convincing way. When you create your ‘Cameo’ (an AI version of yourself) you record a few short videos of yourself and say a few words so it can clone your voice.

The results are incredible. I’ve got access to the app and have already put me and and my girlfriend in some stunningly convincing (and sometime weird and unhinged) situations.

Like what you’ve made? Share it in the feed for your followers. They can then remix your video and put themselves in the same situation.

This really could be social media’s next frontier, although some are already calling out “the death of authenticity” as users flock to share convincing fakes or wild situations.

Some OpenAI staff have openly (or privately) worried that AI video feeds risk repeating social media’s darkest pitfalls.

As if to demonstrate this, OpenAI boss Sam Altman opened his own Cameo up for widespread use by others. This led to creepy Sam Altman memes and a hit clip in which he is seen stealing a GPU from a store.

A bit of fun, sure, but also it shows how even with protections over who can use your own Cameo, this app could easily be used to create convincing disinformation.

Brands won’t be too happy wither. There are already uncanny videos out there of Pikachu robbing stores and SpongeBob as Hitler.

Whats’s more the app can recreate voices and faces of public figures like Obama, despite rules against impersonation.

Experts say it’s a disinformation time bomb, enabling weaponised narratives, deepfake crimes, and truth-destroying propaganda.

And it’s not too hard to get rid of the Sora watermarks, leaving nothing to prove what's fake—or real.

And it’s not just OpenAI that’s the problem. People are using Meta’s AI to post videos of senior citizens falling to their death.

Are you ready for a world where there’s a deepfake factory in your pocket?

That world is already here, and the fact it’s also a really compelling, fun, social experience should give us all pause for thought about the opportunities and the dangers it presents to us.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta / Facebook / Messenger 👥

Image: Meta

  • Meta expanded use of facial recognition to tackle celebrity impersonator accounts in the EU and UK on Facebook, with Instagram to follow

  • Meta’s Ray-Ban Display glasses sold out in nearly every stocked store within 48 hours of launch

  • Meta cracked down on staff publishing AI research, causing anger among some employees. Meta’s AI chief Yann LeCun reportedly considered quitting

  • Leaked Meta guidelines show how it trains AI chatbots to respond to child sexual exploitation prompts

  • Meta must offer persistent non-algorithmic feeds in the Netherlands, a court has ruled

  • Meta now allows Meta Verified subscribers to reuse their uploaded ID to re-verify their account or upload a new one when making changes to their account

  • Meta has been spotted offering tiers for creators subscribed to Meta Verified, with different levels of benefits and features

  • Meta has added a new feature for Meta Verified Business subscribers, allowing them to create custom branded chat themes 

  • Facebook is introducing fan challenges, letting creators prompt users to post themed content. Fans can also earn custom top fan badges.

  • Facebook is testing a new Title option for Reels

  • Facebook allows lets you create shorter versions of your Reels

__________


Instagram ✨

Instagram’s new sharable insights feature for creators | Image: Meta

__________


Threads 🧵 / WhatsApp 🟢

Threads new X-style Communities feature | Image: Meta

__________


Twitter (‘X’) 🤡

X’s new sort post Likes option | Image: X

__________


TikTok 📱

TikTok’s new in-app Taylor Swift ‘Showgirls’ album experience | Image: TikTok

  • TikTok launched a range of features and content alongside Taylor Swift’s new album

  • TikTok is under fire after a damning report found its algorithm pushing sexual content to underage users

  • TikTok is widely rolling out the ability to write a 160-character bio for your profiles

  • TikTok launched Crescendo, an accelerator programme to discover classical music talent

  • TikTok added Deezer and Anghami to its ‘add to music app’ feature

  • TikTok has been spotted rolling out Text Posts more widely

  • TikTok has given the Edit Profile section a fresh new look

  • TikTok added a new editing feature for clips called Mask

__________

YouTube 📺

YouTube Premium’s new 4x speed playback option | Image: Google

  • YouTube Premium now supports 256kbps high-quality audio on mobile for official music and Art Tracks, 4x speed playback, and more

  • YouTube is rolling out a new icon set, including more cartoony like and dislike thumbs

  • YouTube has given Advanced mode for analytics a new look and new features

  • YouTube clarified its updated profanity policy, relaxing the “first 7 seconds” rule. Videos demonetised solely for early profanity have been re-reviewed and reapproved

  • YouTube’s Gift Goals feature and Effects Maker are now live for all US creators

  • YouTube is deepening its sports push with two new YouTube Select ad packages: College Sports and Women’s Live Sports

  • YouTube Live now lets you enable an advanced setting called Leaderboard Rankings, directly on the app

__________


Snapchat / LinkedIn / Pinterest / More… 👻

Image: Snap

__________

🔥 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:

Meta launched a wave of new AI-powered tools and platform updates for brands advertisers and creators this week.

Including a new Business AI assistant…

“Meta debuted Business AI digital assistant for companies to offer to their customers more personalised product recommendations via chat interactions.”

Meta Outlines Expanding AI Ad Tools, Including AI Chatbots for Websites

Meta's also got new AI music generation options, virtual try-on, custom ad text, and more.

Also spotted this week 👀

  • YouTube’s new “Extend with AI” lets anyone slap an AI-made ending onto someone else’s Short.

  • Meta is testing a new Advantage+ AI tool for advertisers called ‘Swap Selling Points’. It automatically swaps text on your image ads with different selling points

  • Instagram now has an AI-powered ‘rewrite’ option for captions

  • TikTok has rolled out AI-powered travel ads for hotels, flights, and more

  • WhatsApp is working on the ability to chat privately with Meta AI in Incognito Mode

  • LinkedIn launched new automation tools to streamline ad creation and targeting for SMBs

  • LinkedIn highlighted three key areas where the platform is investing in AI: Recommendations, Search, and Agents

  • BuzzFeed is sending out invites to its AI social app BF Island

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🇺🇸 TIKTOK U.S. DEAL UPDATE

All the news you need to know about the deal this week:

The idea that ByteDance is losing control of TikTok in the US could be an illusion.

A report in the past week says it could get around 50% of TikTok’s US profits under the proposed deal, despite the company only owning 20% of the US operation.

…and ByteDance will reportedly still control TikTok’s e-commerce and ad operations under the new US deal.

ByteDance expected to maintain big role in new US TikTok, sources say

The details about the ownership structure under discussion may raise questions in Congress and among critics.

  • There’s a view this isn’t a market-driven acquisition—it’s a political sleight of hand meant to appease both Beijing and MAGA America

    …and here are the key questions TikTok employees have about the $14 billion Trump-approved deal

  • Trump says TikTok should be tweaked to become “100% MAGA” 😳

  • Full-time influencers say they’re worried brand deals and payouts could take a hit if the algorithm is politically slanted to favour Trump

  • It’s reported that JD Vance pressured China to finalise a TikTok deal by threatening a US shutdown

  • TikTok execs reportedly see Adam Presser, a trusted lieutenant to CEO Shou Zi Chew, as top pick to lead TikTok’s US spinoff

.

💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

Pinterest CEO Bill Ready says Molly Russell’s death still drives platform’s safety push.

The 14-year-old died in 2017 after viewing self-harm content on platforms including Pinterest.

Ready urged the tech industry to adopt crash test-style safety ratings, making app safety clearer for parents. But analysts argue that unless TikTok and Instagram follow Pinterest’s lead, wider industry change will stall.

I gave my thoughts on this to BBC News…

Pinterest boss says he thinks about Molly Russell every day

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😆 LOL

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🪧 BRANDS

From Fat Bear Week to “fluffy cow” bison PSAs, the National Park Service is reaching millions of followers through “edutainment…”

How the National Park Service became a social media behemoth

From Fat Bear Week to “fluffy cow” bison PSAs, the agency is reaching millions of followers through “edutainment.”

More brand news this week: 👀

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“…I know some of you are just not going to believe me, no matter how much I try to explain it...”

- Instagram boss Adam Mosseri admits people might never believe that Meta isn’t listening to their conversations

-
Also overheard this week: 👂

  • “…He called for the overthrow of our government. He incited violence on our streets. His platform, X, promotes disinformation. He’s a dangerous person...”

    -

    – UK energy minister Ed Miliband is not a fan of Elon Musk (but who is?), and says it’s “possible” the government should quit using X
    -

  • “…If you actually think about what you’re doing when you’re posting, it’s not just reaching your audience, you’re actually doing work for that company for free. Every time you hit the heart, every time you like a post, every time you retweet something, that’s a signal to an algorithm…”

    -

    – Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey seems to have become more openly cynical about social media over the years

.

👀 MY FAV READS

Emily Baker-White’s new book Every Screen On The Planet takes a detailed look at the rise of TikTok and the battle to control it.

This excerpt looks at how its legendary algorithm was “shaped by a bunch of ordinary, twentysomething curators—including a guy named Jorge”.

The Humble Origins Of TikTok’s Almighty Algorithm

Also:

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😮 WTF?!

Meta is throwing billions at humanoid robots in its boldest moonshot since AR.

CTO Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth says software—not hardware—is the real hurdle to lifelike robots.

“Metabot” is in the works, but licensing is the endgame.

Hang on… AI, humanoid robots… Have they SEEN The Terminator?

Humanoid robots are Meta’s next ‘AR-size bet’

Also WTF this week: 👀

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🎬 RETURN OF THE ZUCK

Sony has titled its long-awaited movie sequel of The Social Network. 

The Social Reckoning, with a release date lined up for October 2026.

The film centres on whistleblower Frances Haugen’s explosive leaks.

Jeremy Strong stars as a grimmer, older Zuckerberg. Mikey Madison will play Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, Jeremy Allen White joins as WSJ reporter Jeff Horwitz, who broke ‘The Facebook Files’, and Aaron Sorkin returns as writer-director.

But Andrew Garfield has confirmed that he will not reprise his performance as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network’s sequel.

'The Social Network' sequel will focus on Haugen leaks, with Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg

.

👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

Airbnb is hiring a Social Lead, Brand & Culture [Remote, USA]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

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🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

Meta will retire its Automated Ads option in early 2026 as it shifts focus to AI-driven Advantage+.

Meta Phases Out Automated Ads in Favor of Advantage+

Automated Ads are an early version of Meta's simplified ad creation approach. 

Also:

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👌 PRO TIPS

It might not be a complete surprise but here’s some data to back up your hunch… 

X gives you almost 0 reach, unless you go Premium!

Buffer’s analysis of 18.8 million X posts revealed:

  • Premium users get 10x the median reach, with Premium+ topping 1,550 impressions per post

  • X free users typically get less than 100 impressions per post, while Premium accounts get 600 impressions

  • Free accounts now see a 0% median engagement rate! But does anyone really care now?

Data Shows That X Premium Subscribers Get Significantly More Post Reach

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

600,000+

– How many Facebook users in the UK are exposed to rampant hate speech via far-right groups, according to new research

Even more social stats: 📈

  • LINKEDIN VIDEO: LinkedIn says users now watch 40% more videos year-over-year, where its dedicated video tab is available

  • SOCIAL DECLINE?: New research suggests we may be past peak social media, with global usage dropping 10% since 2022

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📈 CHARTED

Threads is now neck-and-neck with X in global daily active users, even edging ahead on some days.

But follower growth on Threads still remains flat for lots of users, including me…

More charted social insights spotted: 👀.

  • SOCIAL BILLIONS: TikTok’s $14 billion price tag compared to rival social apps

  • ALL MOD CONS: Most people want platforms (not governments) to be responsible for content moderation

  • GEN Z: Half of Gen Z social media users have purchased via an ad, far higher than other generations

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

Ad-free YouTube just got cheaper in more countries

YouTube Premium Lite expands to more countries

  • YouTube argued that it's not a social media platform as it tries to dodge Australia’s under-16 ban. [The Guardian]

  • YouTube removed new channels from Alex Jones + Nick Fuentes just hours after they appeared. Its programme to reinstate banned creators hasn’t started yet. [The Independent]

  • The US ambassador to the EU is pressuring Brussels to prove its digital rules don’t punish American tech. [Financial Times $$$]

  • Imgur blocked access for UK users, after facing a potential fine over child data rules. [BBC News]

  • Meta, Google and Apple must face trial over promotion of gambling apps. [Apple Insider]

  • Indonesia suspended TikTok’s license after it refused to fully share livestream data from August protests. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Meta is reportedly acquiring Rivos, a GPU startup, to speed up internal AI chip development. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Meta revealed the first technical details of Horizon Engine, its in-house metaverse tech built to replace Unity. [UploadVR]

  • Meta Superintelligence Labs executives are pushing staff to ditch slow internal systems for faster engineering tools. [Business Insider $$$]

  • As Twitch tries to crack down on viewbots, they are becoming more common on Kick. [TubeFilter]

  • Bollywood actors raised legal concerns with YouTube’s AI training policy. [Semafor]

  • TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch execs this week told Spanish film and TV leaders they’re allies, not threats. [The Hollywood Reporter]

  • NBC will stay on YouTube TV after a last-minute deal, avoiding a blackout for now. [Engadget]

  • Snapchat's First Impression Ads are proving their worth, according to new research with Publicis Media. [Social Media Today]

  • Bluesky now requires Ohio users to verify their age using KWS tools like ID upload or facial scan. [TechCrunch]

  • Papua New Guinea is considering age restrictions on social media amid fears voices will be ‘silenced’. [The Guardian]

  • Facebook now includes a Monetization tab under Notifications. [@jonahmanzano]

  • Facebook updated the Following Settings sheet, making it easier to manage, and better organised. [@theahmedghanem]

  • WhatsApp is testing a new order for the footer tabs in the beta app. [@theahmedghanem]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

YouTube hit 20 years old earlier this year…

This great long-read in Fast Company charts its rise to the top of the creator economy.

And reveals the surprising challenges Google faced converting it into the advertising cash cow it has become.

“YouTube could've been Google's first flop. But it wasn't. Robert Kyncl, Lyor Cohen, and key engineers on innovating their way to success.”

How YouTube went from money pit to money printer

More great weekend reads:

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😳 AND FINALLY…

You probably first used an @ symbol in an email address or social handle…

But it turns out it’s WAY older than that!

This is fascinating (and very geeky) read:

The 3,000-year-old story hidden in the @ sign

In Taiwan they call @ "little mouse". It's "strudel" in Hebrew, "dog" in Russian and "monkey's tail" in Dutch. The @ sign is a mirror, and its story goes back thousands of years.

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

That’s pretty much everything new in social this week.

I’m heading off to get changed for my part-time weekend job.

Did you not know? I also perform on stage as a 1980’s pop artist on the weekends.

Just before heading in for my shift at McDonald’s.

Gotta pay the dem bills somehow!

Goodbye, geeks!

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

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