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Hello, geeks!

Welcome you privacy-safe download of everything new in social.

I’m coming in hot this week. As we speak, i'm getting cancelled on Bluesky.

Over 1,300 comments (so far) telling me to “get f**ked”, that I’m a “limey w**ker”, and a “dumb b*tch”… Charming!

But my personal favourite has to be this:👇💀

More on what exactly I said that led Bluesky users to lose their sh*t, in a moment.

Also this week…

• Instagram’s cloning machine is back… But the Snap Map rip-off feature has already sparked a privacy backlash. 🤬
  -

• ‘Ibiza’s Final Boss’ became the week’s unexpected main character… And he looks set to cash-in on his viral fame 💰

  -

• Grok AI has a new ‘Spicy’ AI-generated video mode… And it’s already churning out deepfake nudes of Taylor Swift 😵

But before we get into it… These are worth checking out:
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✨ The secret to writing powerful ChatGPT AI prompts — This FREE event is full of time-saving AI pro-tips [ad]
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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. Instagram rolled out TikTok-style Reposts feature for Reels [COPYCATTING]

3. Elon Musk’s Grok new ‘Spicy’ mode is creating deepfake nudes of Taylor Swift and Scarlett Johansson [NSFW-ING]

4. The EU Parliament is pressing for new mandatory scanning of your private WhatsApp chats [SNOOPING]

5. Leaked list reportedly reveals top websites Meta is scraping of copyrighted material to train its AI [HOOVERING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Forget growth, Bluesky has an anger problem

If you follow me on Threads or Bluesky, you’ll know that my ‘thing’ is to share a bunch of social media news every day. I create a handy summary of each article.

I’m mainly on Threads these days, but I drop in on Bluesky when I think there’s something the users there will be interested in.

Yesterday, I shared some analysis around the fact that Bluesky’s overall user growth is slowing down while post volume isn’t growing. And Bluesky users did NOT like it.

At the time of writing, my post has 1,300 replies and 1,400 quotes, many of which are severely dunking on me for sharing this fact.

The article I shared mistakenly quoted ‘monthly active users’ in place of total users - that’s a fair point. But what got me was the sheer volume of personal vitriol against me for suggesting that slowing growth might be a problem. Sure, there has been some good natured debate too, but plenty of personal attacks

Even if you disagree (and most of the people interacting with my post do), the way they did it flies in the face of the idea that Bluesky is a tranquil solace from the chaos and abuse on X. Some Bluesky users can be just as awful if you dare to say something they don’t like.

Bluesky users repeatedly screamed at me in the post’s replies how Elon Musk’s X is a toxic cesspool of hate and abuse. Had they scrolled the other replies on my post, they may have spotted the irony in that statement.

The Bluesky team’s long-term goal is growing the AT protocol that the platform is built upon. But as a platform itself, Bluesky needs to be sustainable if the users who love it want it to continue to exist

Whether through selling subscriptions to pro features or advertising, you need a certain degree of scale and growth in engagement to bring in enough revenue to keep a platform going in the long term, especially one with venture capital backers looking for a big return on their investment.

I’d hope Bluesky users could engage with the debate without the dumb anger and personal attacks I’ve seen in my notifications over the past day.

Oh, and thanks to the Washington Post’s Will Oremus, and Bloomberg’s Dave Lee for calling out the ‘dogpiling’ and trying to steer people towards a civil discussion about the tone the debate took 👌

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta / Facebook / Messenger 👥

• Meta shared details of ultra-wide FOV and "Hyperrealistic VR" prototype headsets

• Meta revealed it has banned over 6.8 million scam-linked WhatsApp accounts in six months amid global fraud crackdowns

• Meta now lets you create and switch between multiple avatars for one account

• Meta Business Suite finally supports mixed media posts

• Meta acquired WaveForms AI, a startup teaching machines to hear and mimic human emotion

• Meta’s new patent ditches bulky sensors and uses air pressure to simulate lifelike touch in virtual worlds

• Meta says its AI is driving improvements to Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, like increased video watch time and more original content in feeds

• Meta spied on women’s menstrual data from a third-party app, a Californian court has ruled

• Meta’s Oversight Board says the company’s blanket ban on non-sexual child abuse videos—even when children aren’t identifiable—is too harsh

• Meta is rolling out its “Value Rules” targeting tool more broadly

• Messenger now allows you to create custom stickers

• Meta partnered with Netflix to celebrate the new season of ‘Wednesday’ by introducing a new chat theme, now available across all platforms

__________

Instagram ✨

• Instagram launched a Snap Map clone, first in the US, with a broader rollout coming soon

  …and don’t worry, privacy fans, it’s off by default and you can choose who your share your location with

• Instagram officially launched new analytics for creators, including Reels and Carousel Like insights, post-level demographics, and more

• Instagram Edits increased the maximum volume level, and added the ability to send videos in a message for feedback, and an option to write a script in a sticky note and jump directly to the teleprompter

• Instagram is building Picks, a new inbox Notes feature to spotlight your personal interests

• Instagram now asks users if they want to see more or less of certain notifications

• Instagram added new Highlight Stories, showing recent highlights from your friends at the end of the Stories carousel

• Instagram now shows action buttons in chat when you share your number, letting others call you or text you on WhatsApp

• Instagram can now show lyrics when you share music on Notes

• Instagram now offers a floating chat box on desktop, allowing you to reply and send new messages without going to the inbox

• Instagram added new visuals and CTAs for profiles without posts

• Instagram is working on adding support for more languages on the ‘Caption’ sticker for Stories and Reels

• Instagram is testing a new ‘quick reply’ button for Reels

__________

WhatsApp 🟢 / Threads 🧵 

• WhatsApp is fighting scam networks with new ‘Safety Overviews’ about group chats your added to by someone not in your contacts list

• WhatsApp’s new ‘guest chats’ feature will let users message contacts who don’t even have the app

• WhatsApp has been spotted still working on a redesigned ‘About’ feature with disappearing status options

• WhatsApp is working on the ability to add verified Instagram profile links

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to access your profile settings directly from the Chats tab

• Threads added shortcuts for ‘Saved’ and ‘Liked’ posts in the app’s new side menu

__________

Twitter (‘X’) 🤡

• X plans to reinstate the original Vine content archive, as Elon Musk describes Grok’s new video feature as the rebirth of the much-missed app

• X posts are now showing in the Google Search Discover feed again

• X must face a claim of negligence over child abuse images, a US judge has ruled

• X has killed California’s strict ban on election deepfakes, in a court challenge

• X is suing the Indian government over mass content takedown orders

__________

YouTube 📺

• YouTube’s new ‘Show’ layout gives some channels a major glow-up with Netflix vibes

• YouTube is testing a new collab feature, letting creators tag others in their videos.

• YouTube is increasingly popular with Brits aged 50+ as they ditch linear TV

• YouTube is testing a new comment box for Shorts posted by a creator, but it shows up only if you’re viewing Shorts from within the channel’s specific shelf

• YouTube will soon let Android users switch off that annoying Auto Zoom feature

• YouTube pledged $3 million to rebuild LA's creative community After Wildfires

__________

TikTok 📱

• TikTok is celebrating the Jonas Brothers’ 20th anniversary with a dedicated in-app hub

• TikTok now lets US users book hotels in-app through Booking.com

• TikTok has been spotted offering visual search on Android

• TikTok now lets you help your friends recover their accounts

• TikTok launched a new monetisation feature for TikTok Live users, called Scaled Rewards

• TikTok bios can now be 160 characters long, double the old 80-character limit.

• TikTok is introducing a ‘service bio’ feature for livestreaming

• TikTok and MrBeast have launched #TeamWater to fund clean water globally, and added a new custom donations sticker

• TikTok now highlights your top live viewers, allowing you to message them directly through the Live tab in TikTok Studio

__________

Reddit / LinkedIn / Telegram / More… 👽

• LinkedIn is scaling back its tests of alternative news feeds

• Telegram enhanced content discovery and user customisation with its latest update

• Meta, X, and Snapchat are all offering discounts on paid subscription packages this summer

• Reddit aims to rival Google by merging Reddit Answers with its core search

• Reddit is shelving its paid subreddit idea as it shifts focus to user growth and search

• Snapchat now connects with the Snap-owned Saturn app for a more social calendar experience

• Snapchat favourite counts are now visible on your Spotlight posts

• Snapchat and UK broadcaster Channel 5 have launched an AR-powered docuseries exploring the Seven Wonders

• Ghost now lets users syndicate their blog posts and newsletters to Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads via ActivityPub.

__________

🔥 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:

Elon Musk might not have ever got around to taking on Zuck in a cage fight…

But he certainly seems to have similar ideas to his rival for AI-powered automated advertising.

In the future, Grok could run your campaign on X for you…

Also spotted this week 👀

• X plans to introduce ads in Grok conversations

• X is trialing age verification using Grok to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act

• X now lets you send DMs to xAI companions

• xAI made Grok Imagine free for all US users in the Grok app for a limited time

• xAI now lets you create videos that were previously images in the Grok app

• xAI’s new Grok image and video generator has an NSFW ‘spicy’ mode that can create photorealistic erotica

• xAI now lets you customise Grok companions

• OpenAI launched two powerful “open-weight” AI models to rival Meta’s Llama

• Instagram may soon let you use AI to create your own custom font styles for Reels and Stories

• Meta now lets you set the audience for AI chats, allowing you to choose if they’re available to everyone, close friends only, or just you

• Meta released new AI features to make ‘Horizon Worlds’ development easier

• Messenger now supports AI characters in group chats

• Truth Social is adding Perplexity-powered AI web search

  …but it appears to be as right-wing skewed as you’d expect

• Character AI is adding a social feed to its app, letting users share chat snippets, videos, and AI art

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😆 LOL

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📈 MEMES

A clubber in Ibiza with a unique look became the king of the internet this week, after video of him went viral on TikTok.

Meet ‘Ibiza’s Final Boss' aka Jack Kay…

@ibizahq

Don’t mess with the Ibiza final boss 🥊

And with his new found fame, Jack Kay looks set to cash-in.

Some industry experts are predicting he’ll earn as much as £250,000 in the next year through brand collabs, sponsored content, nightclub appearances, merch, and more…

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🌡️ VIRAL

‘SkinnyTok’ is so last season…

TikTok is facing pressure in France, after viral videos encouraged girls to sunbathe for halterneck tan lines.

Also going viral this week: 🔥

• Star Wars slang has gone viral as Gen Z fires back at AI

• A viral TikTok product aims to hide Meta’s smart glasses recording light

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🪧 BRANDS

TikTok slammed Waterboy’s new social manager as the “worst ever”

But her unhinged brand trip chaos content helped break the company’s sales record.

Madi Marotta’s TikTok’s were roasted as low-quality party clips with zero marketing polish…

More brand news this week: 👀

• Creators are 'doubling' their rates as they capitalise on brands' growing interest

  ….and that’s fuelling a ‘Wild West’ of creator pricing.

• Brands can’t stop their ads running against AI slop on YouTube

• More Instagram content is now being indexed by Google Search, it’s transforming brands’ social strategies

• Influencer content is now reshaping Google results, sparking an SEO-meets-social strategy shift for brands

• How brands choose which beauty creators to work with

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“So much of the act is massive overreach and plunges this country into a borderline dystopian state.”

- It’s safe to say that Reform UK politician Zia Yusuf also isn’t a fan of the UK’s Online Safety Act

-
Also overheard this week: 👂

• “This move has set off alarm bells for free speech advocates who characterise it as excessive and potentially restrictive. A balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children.”
  
  – X speaks out against the UK’s Online Safety Act that aims to protect children from harmful content online

• “There may be some value in some type of united front in trying to fight these things off in Europe."

  – Trump ally Scott Fitzgerald says US tech giants should team up against UK and EU online safety rules

• “[X] systematically prioritises content that sparks outrage, provokes heated exchanges, reactions, and engagement, without adequate safeguards to prevent or mitigate harm."

  – Amnesty International is no fan of Elon Musk’s platform in its new report

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👀 MY FAV READS

Is Summer 2025 is a meme meltdown with no main character?

Summer 2025 has no clear “it” moment—no Brat, Barbie, or viral anthem to define it.

Instead, Jet2holidays memes, Coldplaygate cringe, and bizarre celebrity gossip clutter the feeds, Business Insider’s Amanda Hoover suggests.

Analysts say media overload and algorithm fatigue are fueling a retreat into offline life and micro-trends.

It turns out that Meta’s new community notes fact-checks leave a lot to be desired as a defence against viral misinformation…

Also:

• Zuckerberg fired the fact-checkers. The Washington Post tested their replacement — Meta’s new community notes fact-checks leave a lot to be desired as a defence against viral misinformation

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😮 WTF?!

What Linda did next…

Former X CEO Linda Yaccarino is now CEO of eMed, a digital health startup managing weight-loss drugs like Ozempic.

Also WTF this week: 👀

• Meta’s AI glasses turned up in an LA immigration raid, sparking surveillance fears

• Scammers are buying abandoned YouTube channels—and taking advantage of algorithmic boosts they still get

• Influencers in the UAE will require a government permit for promoted posts from October

• Meta AI chats shared to its Discover feed are being indexed by Google Search, and Meta says it’s deliberate

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🤦‍♂️ FAIL

You could argue this isn’t a fail and is actually deliberate, given how much Elon Musk’s xAI has leaned into the ‘spicy’ side of AI lately:

“The ‘Spicy’ mode on Elon Musk's Grok Imagine AI allows users to create lurid deepfake videos of Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift in seconds.”

But it will win Elon no fans in celebrity and progressive circles (if he had any left by this point!).

And it may lead to more lawsuits, given Scarlett Johansson previously threatened Open AI with legal action for allegedly mimicking her voice for a new ChatGPT voice called "Sky”

Also:

• Elon Musk is now ranked the most unpopular public figure in America
  

• Contractors training Meta’s AI say they read intimate talks with its chatbot — and see data that identifies users

• YouTube's playback speed controls have been bugged-out and broken on Android this week

• …And YouTube has resolved a glitch that left the subscription tab totally blank on iPhones

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💰 RESULTS DAY

It was another week of quarterly earnings from social companies. This time, it was the turn of Snap and Pinterest.

Things did NOT go well for Snap…

Also:

• Snapchat has seen slight decline in its US user count, although it’s still growing globally

• Pinterest hit 578 million monthly active users in Q2, up 8M from Q1.

• Pinterest’s user growth has shifted abroad as it stalls in the US and Europe

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

The UK government Cabinet Office is hiring a Social Media Operations Officer [London, UK]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• Sonos is looking for a Senior Manager, Global Social Media [Remote, USA]

• BBC Radio 1 is on the hunt for a Social Media Executive [London, UK]

• DriveTribe needs a Social Media and Account Manager [Bath, UK]

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🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

Meta is sunsetting Facebook Web Games by September 2026 and mandating Instant Games use Zero Permissions.

The company says the new model boosts engagement by 70% and slashes compliance headaches.

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👌 PRO TIPS

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri says using Edits can trigger a small algorithm boost. Instagram says the effect is “modest and temporary”

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• Mosseri also debunked the Instagram myth that engaging with content similar to yours boosts reach

• How advertisers are approaching ads on WhatsApp

• TikTok’s new report shows how to improve marketing attribution and focus

• Pinterest shared tips on how to build your Pin community

• Snapchat published tips on how brands can connect with Gen Z

• A new Snapchat study shows how fast hooks win brand attention

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

1 TRILLION

– The number of views Roblox content has clocked up on YouTube. YouTube has celebrated with a virtual museum and tap-to-win challenge

Even more social stats: 📈

• ZUCKERBUCKS: Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune exploded by $26.8 billion after Meta delivered stellar quarterly earnings last week

• NEWS NOW: TikTok is now a go-to news source for nearly 40% of young American adults

• LIVE AND LOUD: TikTok smashed its Live audience record with 74 million viewers for Tomorrowland 2025

• IT’S PERSONAL: Meta’s new report with Deloitte claims 80% of US consumers are more likely to buy when ads are personalised.

• FRESH: Meta says over two-thirds of Instagram recommendations in the US are now original content. That’s a jump from 60% of Reels being original in Q3 2024

• SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE: Reddit is the most cited domain in AI models, says analytics firm Profound. In Q2, Reddit was cited twice as often as Wikipedia in AI responses from tools like Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews

• MANLY PINS: Pinterest’s male audience has crossed 171 million—over a third of its global user

• SMALL=BIG: Nano-influencers (<10K followers) pull a stunning 34.1% impression rate—more than double any other tier of influencer

• TOP OF THE PODS: YouTube is the most-used platform by podcasters, with 87% of podcasts posting + seeing 3.13% average engagement

• WOWED-FUNDING: Patreon creators have now earned over $10 billion in fan payments since 2013

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📈 CHARTED

How YouTube has overtaken Spotify and Apple as the top podcast platform…

More charted social insights spotted: 👀.

• ON THE UP: Meta’s social empire keeps growing 

• GEN Z: How to attract American Gen-Zers’ attention

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• The US is set to fight back against EU tech rules that penalise social media giants [Social Media Today]

• Meta's Superintelligence Labs is already becoming part of the company’s pitch to marketers. [DigiDay $$$]

• The Writers Guild of America is pushing to unionise creators scripting podcasts, shows, and series that compete directly with legacy TV. [Variety]

• Meta fully joined the new wave of defence tech, after quietly removing its ban on military use of AI last year. [New York Times $$$]

• Here are some of the AI pros Meta is targeting like it’s the NFL draft. [Axios]

• Meta plans to share its AI infrastructure costs via a $2 billion asset sale. [Reuters $$$]

• Some Gaza and Ukraine posts are blocked under new UK online safety laws. [BBC News]

• The UK Liberal Democrats are urging Ofcom to regulate YouTube ads like TV, citing a rise in AI scam content. [The Guardian]

• As social traffic fades and search declines, some publishers are betting on apps for direct audience ties. [Press Gazette]

New features and tests:

• Facebook has added a new info menu for Stories with shared posts, showing the original source and offering quick actions. [@theahmedghanem]

• Facebook has brought back the ability to quickly access messages in the app without being redirected to Messenger. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram added a shortcut to access Ads Manager from the desktop menu. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram moved the option to add action buttons to the Account Contact Options settings page for business accounts. [@theahmedghanem]

• Photo sharing app Locket’s new ‘Celebrity Lockets’ feature lets artists blast exclusive pics straight to fans’ home screens. [TechCrunch]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

Grok’s Valentine sex bot is horny—but only if you behave…

Valentine teases intimacy, but recoils at choking, anal, and even basic kink, dropping “heart points” like a prude with a poetry degree.

Convos feel like clunky fanfiction, with shirtless poses and awkward consent check-ins.

“‘Brooding. Intense. Guilty.’ But totally not Edward Cullen….”

More great weekend reads:

• ‘Commodifying themselves’: the ordinary people posting Instagram sponcon to profit off friends

• How scrubbing your social media could backfire–and even hurt your job prospects

• ‘Children are entering a hellscape’: the terrifying film about grieving parents taking on social media giants

• “OpenAI offered me a job. Meta reached out just hours after I posted about it”

• Meet TBD Lab, Meta’s Superintelligence SWAT team

.

😳 AND FINALLY…

A viral theory claims certain emojis—like croissants, letters, and hot peppers—are cheating red flags. 🥐🌶️ ✉️

Monkey, padlock, and fishing emojis also raise suspicion… 🙈 🔐 🎣

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

And on that spicy endnote, you have fully digested this week’s Geekout.

I’m heading off to check whether there’s a bullet in my letterbox sent from my Bluesky fans.

My ADHD intrusive thoughts are urging me to post something new that will trigger them again…

…Just because it’s fun seeing how creative the trolls get with their insults: 🤣

Goodbye, geeks!

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