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Hello, geeks!

Good news! I did my little turn on the catwalk in Belgium without tripping. 🙏

Bad news… TikTok’s future in the U.S is looking bleak. 🚫

More on that in a moment.

But first….

If you’re using any of these emoji and acronyms, you are not cool (apparently). 💀

And this TikTok Ban Survival Guide is essential reading. 🚨

__________

Killed it on the catwalk 🕺🏻

Much to my relief, I survived my catwalk debut at the BAM Marketing Congress in Brussels last week.

Judging by my face in this photo, though, it looks like I barely made it through unscathed (zoom in for the full trauma 😬).

Sarah, my girlfriend, was front row with her iPhone, clearly hoping I’d deliver some comedy gold by falling flat on my ass. Sadly for her, I stayed upright.

Despite plenty of helpful suggestions—backflip, breakdance, or nailing my best Blue Steel—I kept it simple with a power march to my chair.

Next stop: the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai in January. Knowing Dubai, the staging will be wild. If they email about a high-wire or zip-line entry… I’m officially out.

Right then… Let’s get into this week’s hottest headlines in social.

TikTok’s had a very bad week in the U.S… 👇

🚨 TikTok Ban Looming. Don't Get Caught Off Guard!

Starting to stress about the potential TikTok ban? 😰 You're not alone!

Don't worry, Sked Social's TikTok Ban Survival Guide has you covered. 😉

This FREE guide reveals actionable strategies to help you not just survive, but thrive in a TikTok-less world.

Sneak peek:

✨ The ban could seriously shake up social media. Think big shifts in audience behavior and ad spending.
✨ You need to prep your content NOW. Diversify your platforms and create adaptable content.
✨ There are tons of alternative platforms. Think Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and more.
✨ Turn this into a money-making opportunity. Explore subscriptions, virtual events, and collaborations.

You'll learn:

🔥 Actionable strategies to future-proof your content and ad spend.
🔥 How to adapt to the changing social media landscape.
🔥 Examples of how brands are already preparing for the ban.

No fluff. Just actionable insights. And 100% free. 👌 

🔓 Unlock TikTok Ban Survival Guide now [AD]

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. Meta donates $1 million to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund [PANDERING]

3. Australia to force Meta and Google to keep paying for news [POWER-BALANCING]

4. Meta recovered from hours-long outage across its apps [404-ING]

5. California could become the first state to require social media warning labels [DOOM-LABELLING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

TikTok’s US deadline is mere weeks away

Has the future of a popular app ever been as threatened as TikTok’s?

Practically as soon as last week’s Geekout went out the door, the looming TikTok ban story ramped up its drama, after a US appeals court upheld the law forcing a sale or ban of TikTok by 19 January (that’s *checks watch* just FIVE WEEKS away).

Then, TikTok asked for an emergency pause on the ultimatum. But the Justice Department has asked a US appeals court to reject it.

It’s getting close to–as the saying goes–’squeaky bum time’. Hopes were high that Donald Trump might save the app from ByteDance having to sell it, but from his behaviour this week, it seems like he’ll be okay with a TikTok sale.

So, what about TikTok’s US users? According to new stats:

• 63% percent of teens report “ever” using the app

• 57% say they log on at least once a day

• 17% report using TikTok almost constantly

If the app is banned in the country, there are going to be a heck of a lot of disappointed people. US TikTok content creators are already warning followers to find them on Instagram and YouTube as a ban looks more likely. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Meta’s share price rose on the news.

The ‘will it or won’t it be banned’ story has been going on for over four years. You might remember it began in the dying days of Trump’s first presidency, and now it looks like it might conclude at the start of his second.

But even beyond that uncertainty, there are other big questions. Who could seriously buy it? What does this mean for users outside the US? Can TikTok be cleanly split into a US and non-US app without killing its appeal around the world?

And what will ByteDance do if it has to shut down and sell off more chunks of the app’s operations as other governments are emboldened by the US?

Just this week TikTok filed a legal challenge against the Canadian government’s shutdown order. 2025 is going to be pivotal to TikTok’s future.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

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🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

The newest social media A.I. features spotted this week:

“…Reddit is launching a new AI-powered search tool called Reddit Answers to help you more easily find information on the platform…”

• X has made its Grok AI chatbot available to all users

• X gives Grok a new photorealistic AI image generator called Aurora

• YouTube now has the ability to generate an AI image directly in the app for use in posts.

• WhatsApp could soon let your forward messages and media to Meta AI

• Meta has launched a new 70 billion parameter Llama 3.3 model, which is said to be more efficient than the previous version, but just as powerful

• Meta has launched Motivo, which could control the movements of a human-like digital agent in the metaverse

• Meta rolled out its internal AI tool as it pushes into business market

• Meta has released a tool for watermarking AI-generated videos

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💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I helped BBC News make sense of Character AI’s new safety measures

I also popped up in a few more articles this week…

• I spoke to The Drum about which platforms will be the biggest winners if TikTok gets banned…

• I spoke to Vogue Business about where the fashion industry should go as it leaves X

• I helped Cosmetics Business understand how Amazon Haul compares to TikTok Shop

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😆 LOL

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📈 MEMES

Have we already got to the point where we’re rounding up the year’s memes? Won’t somebody think of the meme that will go viral in the last week of December?!

Anyway, how many of these do you remember?

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🌡️ VIRAL

It’s a phenomenon like no other - an alleged murderer becoming a viral folk hero to many.

Whatever you think of the act he’s accused of, the fact he’s become an online sensation says a lot about society today.

Also:

• TikTok’s viral ‘Pepe the King Prawn’ meme explained

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📲 NEW APPS

TrackBlue lets you “track your Bluesky growth and gain actionable insight [and] optimise your social media strategy with real-time analytics and CRM tools.” 📈

A few more apps and tools spotted this week:

• BLUESKY FOR JOURNALISTS: There’s now a way for journalists to verify their Bluesky accounts through their employers (while still keeping control of them)
  

• MOZI: Twitter and Medium co-founder Evan Williams has launched Mozi, a private social network for arranging IRL meetings.
  

• CONNYCT: An exclusive social media app for college students emerges amid the potential TikTok ban

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👀 MY FAV READS

Rest of World has published a series of articles exploring the rise and cultural impact of WhatsApp. 🟢

I highly recommend giving them a read this week.

“WhatsApp is already the world’s most widely used messaging app. Meta wants it to be a lot more.”

I also enjoyed reading these top article this week:

• TikTok may not be able to rely on Mr. Unreliable
  

• She joined Facebook to fight terror. Now she’s convinced we need to fight Facebook

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👌 PRO TIPS

In the market for a new social media analytics tool for your year end reporting? 📊📈

Later.com has published a list of top social media analytics tools worth checking out.

“The right social media analytics tool can make or break your social success; here are 13 of the best tools on the market right now.”

Also worth checking out:

• Meta has shared insights into ‘Q5’ marketing opportunities

• LinkedIn has provided tips on how to promote live events

• LinkedIn has shared insight into key creative trends

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🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

RIP to showing your Instagram photos on your dating app profile… 💔

.😮 WTF!?

🍆

“Deepfakes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Mike Tyson, and Terry Crews are selling erectile dysfunction supplements on YouTube.”

Also:

• OnlyFans models are using AI impersonators to keep up with their DMs

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🤦 FAIL

YouTube’s AI-generated audience engagement tools are posting slop 🤖

“YouTube’s rollout of AI tools shows nonsensical AI-generated audience engagement and AI slop thumbnails.”

Also this week…

• Twitch faced a backlash: Streamers are demanding to know why the platform chose to use AI for its new emote, instead of hiring one of the artists who make a living streaming their work sessions on its site.

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

• LastPass is looking for a Social Media Manager [Remote, USA]

• Comic Relief is hiring a Social Media Executive [London, UK]

• Bletchley Park needs a Social Media & Digital Content Officer [Milton Keynes, UK]

• West Midlands Trains is on the lookout for a Social Media Manager [Birmingham, UK]

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📊 SOCIAL STATS.

123 MILES

– The average TikTok user generates greenhouse gases equal to driving an extra 123 miles per year in a fossil fuel powered car, new data shows

• Meta AI now has ‘nearly’ 600 million monthly users.

• Daily Facebook Dating conversations among 18- to 29-year-old users jumped 24% over the last year.

• Half of TikTok active users say they've already made a TikTok Shop purchase

• X claims video views have grown 40% year over year in 2024, surpassing 8.3 billion total views.

• Reddit is now the 14th biggest online publisher in the UK, compared to 29th last year, according to Press Gazette’s latest report.

• Global ad revenue looks set to top $1 trillion in 2025, dominated by Google and Meta.

• Sports viewing on YouTube via TVs is up 30% year-on-year.

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📈 CHARTED

YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat remain the most widely used social apps among U.S teens. 🏆

Check out the latest Pew Research report for a full breakdown of U.S teens use of social media and their extremely online habits. 📱

• TIKTOK BAN: The preferred alternative platforms for US TikTok creators if the TikTok gets banned, according to eMarketer.

• TIKTOK SHOPS: TikTok Shops is huge and growing fast. 60% of Gen Z consumers aware of TikTok say they use it every day. Check out the latest Consumer Trends Report for 2025.

• X VS. BLUESKY: Daily active U.S users on X has dropped by 8.4% since early October, whilst the number of Bluesky users has risen by 1,064%

• INFLUENCER MARKETING: Engagement rate is the top factor for marketers when selecting creators to work with.

• PAID SOCIAL: TikTok’s CPM rates are getting more expensive, gaining ground on Meta’s

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• A covert Facebook network was found to be targeting Romanian voters amid a contentious election that has been given a re-do. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Meta is accused of ignoring rebel threats to Ethiopian moderators, court documents say. [Reuters $$$]

• The EU is investigating YouTube ads for Instagram that were put in front of under 18s despite that being against the rules. [Engadget]

• Meta will buy green credits from four large US solar energy projects to help the company meet its clean electricity goals. [Reuters $$$]

• WhatsApp has fixed a bug that let users bypass the 'View Once' privacy feature. [TechCrunch]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook has added a new post preview UI on desktop for non-logged in users. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook has added a new “long press to share with No Edit” feature for sharing images as stories. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook has merged the ‘Tag’ and ‘Invite a collaborator’ features for Reels into ‘Tag and collaborate’. [@oncescuradu]

Threads:

• Threads has added the ability to manage Meta Verified under ‘Edit Profile’. [@jonahmanzano]

Messenger:

• Messenger now features channel invitations on the left panel. [@jonahmanzano]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp is testing letting you open the photo and video gallery from the chat bar. [WABetaInfo]

The rest: Creator Studio / Adtech / Quest and more:

• Meta’s new Quest update has faster hand tracking and at-a-glance PC connections. [The Verge]

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• Trump aides have contacted Google, Meta, and Snap to arrange a meeting over tackling online sales for drugs like Fentanyl. [The Information $$$]

• Amazon is asking online shoppers for information about product testimonials they’ve posted on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Seems they cracking down further on paid ‘influencer’ promotion. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Reddit has banned posting of UnitedHealthcare shooter’s so-called manifesto. [The Verge]

• Gambling company Sportsbet is being pressured by Australian politicians to remove promotional filters from Snapchat, amid suggestions they normalise gambling among young people. [The Guardian]

• Texas is probing tech platforms over safety and privacy of minors. [Reuters $$$]

• Telegram is under scrutiny in Ukraine, where it is viewed by some as a wartime security risk. [New York Times $$$]

• Shopify is buying Meta and Google ads for brands to acquire customers. [AdWeek $$$]

New features and tests:

• BeReal is facing a GDPR complaint over alleged ‘dark patterns’ for tracking consent. [Engadget]

• Tumblr has launched its interest-focused Communities out of beta. [TechCrunch]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

“Aris Yeager’s “European Kid” videos have been an unexpected hit. Wealthy people and luxury brands have noticed.”

A few more weekend reads worth checking out:

• How WhatsApp became an unstoppable global cultural force

• LinkedIn wants to have its TikTok era

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😳 AND FINALLY…

If you’re feeling the pinch in this traditionally expensive month, consider that someone just spent $40,500 on one of Zuck’s gold chains 😳 ⛓️

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

… And that’s this week’s Geekout. DONE. ☑️

I’m heading off to start wrapping Christmas presents. One of my least favorite chores every year. 🎁

Me preparing to wrap:

If only Amazon sold every gift I needed to buy. I would happily hit “add gift wrapping” for all of them.

Goodbye, geeks!

p.s. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant