Hello, geeks!
Rough week to work in Big Tech PR.
Meta and Snap settled with teens days before a social media addiction trial. Nothing says “we did nothing wrong” like a cheque signed in a hurry.
Meta, TikTok and X also took Ofcom to court to stop it rummaging through their data. They lost. Turns out “please don’t look” isn’t a legal argument.
Meanwhile, Meta has reportedly built a humanoid robot that does household chores. Something else in the house collecting data while it hoovers.
And YouTube is quietly building something called Tamba. Code in the app hints it could be a whole new social app or experience from Google.
Bold move from the company that gave us Google+, Buzz and Wave. Somewhere, a Google+ Circle just twitched.
I spy a new TikTok app 🔍
In my own little corner of the internet, I spotted TikTok quietly launching a standalone TikTok Shop app. It got picked up all over the place.
My take? The main app is the shop window. This new one is the till.
It has launched in Southeast Asia only for now, where TikTok Shop is already huge.
Instagram tried shopping, gave up and scrapped its Shop tab in 2023. TikTok is going the other way, and clearly thinks shopping is big enough to stand on its own.
Coming Soon? 👀
I’m experimenting with a NEW Geekout Newsletter reading experience.
It’s a work in progress, so it might break in places, and it’s best viewed on desktop.
It has a bunch of fun interactive easter eggs 👀
Check it out and vote below. Be honest. Not too honest.
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What do you make of the experimental Geekout?
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Coming up in this week’s Geekout:
🤖 Meta built a robot that does chores. Allegedly
🎞 ChatGPT makes GIFs now. Your group chat is doomed
⚖ Meta and Snap settle with teens days before an addiction trial. Timing!
🎧 TikTok found a new thing to “maxx”: sound frequencies
😬 Publishers hate Meta’s new terms. They still can’t quit Facebook
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P.S. 3 cool things — these are good!
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👌 Sound like AI on LinkedIn? My FREE Claude skill strips the slop → De-slop my posts
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Black Friday is three weeks out, and creator rates climb 20 to 40% into November.
The brands that win aren't hunting for new faces now. They're rehiring the creators who already sell.
Insense just dropped a free checklist to help you pick them:
📊 A free, editable Google Sheet that tells you who to rehire, rebrief or pause
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🔥 TOP STORY: TikTok quietly launched a standalone TikTok Shop app in Asia:
Meta pulls its controversial content scraping terms after publisher backlash [BACKPEDALLING]
Meta, TikTok and X lose court fight to tame UK regulator’s data requests [GETTING TOLD]
Meta and Snap settle with teens ahead of social media addiction trial [CUTTING A DEAL]
Google, Meta and TikTok sue California over law blocking personalised feeds and autoplay for under-16s [LAWYERING UP]
SPONSORED → AI VIDEO EDITOR
Finally, a Video Editor That Takes Feedback 🎬
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You run social. Somewhere along the way, you also became the video editor.
Meet Rio, the new AI video editor inside Slate (think Canva meets CapCut meets Dropbox), built for social teams who'd rather make content than spend hours on repetitive edits.
Honestly? I love this one. It edits the footage you already shot, on a real timeline you can still touch. And unlike most AI video tools, it doesn't hand you a finished clip and a shrug.
Tell it what you want, then keep going:
🎬 Brief it like your team: "Turn these 10 clips into a 60-second Reel"
🔁 Give it notes: "Add a stronger hook." "Cut the filler words." "Apply our brand style." It changes that bit, not the whole video
✋ Take over any time: Drag a clip or trim a cut yourself, then hand it back
🚫 No AI slop: It edits your footage. It never generates any
Got a video gathering dust in your drafts? Here's its second chance.
Rio officially launches Tues 10 Nov.
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Instagram on your TV might be what makes Features make sense
[Credit: Jonah Manzano]
An Instagram app for TVs has been gradually popping up across different platforms since December last year, but the main question for me until now has been… who wants to watch Reels on their TV?
The experience is terrible. If you’ve ever had the YouTube app open on your TV and suddenly realised the same Short has been looping for five minutes while you got distracted, you’ll know what I mean.
Now that Instagram is experimenting with the feature-length Features feature (try saying that three times fast), a TV app suddenly makes a whole lot more sense. In fact, given Features are landscape format, they make MORE sense on TV than they do on your phone.
Creators are eyeing Instagram’s long videos, cautiously. Unless you’re a YouTuber lucky enough to have been offered a sizeable payment from Meta to cross-post your content, there’s virtually no incentive to post. Exposure won’t cut it.
For some creators, TV might change that equation. After all, YouTube is now one of the most popular uses for people’s TVs. If Instagram can grab a slice of that pie, it could run longer, more valuable ads against long content.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll tolerate a longer ad on my TV than I will on my phone, especially if it’s during a long video I really want to watch to the end.
Longer, more valuable ads equal more of a chance for Instagram to come up with a viable revenue-share model for creators.
So maybe Instagram on your TV and Instagram Features don’t make a whole load of sense on their own… but together they might just help Meta take some of YouTube’s market share.
…but a whole lot is going to have to go right for that to happen.
| Meta |  | / |
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Publishers are fuming at Meta, but still can’t quit Facebook [Credit: Digiday]
Publishers furious over Meta’s AI scraping terms are finding it too hard to quit Facebook. Meta has now pulled the terms, a week after its first U-turn
Meta removed pages showing AI-generated exploitation of young-looking athletes only after journalists raised the alarm
Meta and Lionsgate are converting the new Hunger Games movie for a 3D cinema release. It will be available on Meta’s 3D glasses after its theatrical run
Meta is ending feature updates for the ageing Quest 2 and Quest Pro
Meta staff appeared to access adult films being used for unauthorised AI training, according to a legal filing
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Instagram’s Edits app has landed on desktop [Credit: Instagram]
Instagram Edits has launched its desktop app
Instagram appears to be testing giving its long Features videos a prime spot in Explore (we covered the 90-minute Features launch last week)
Instagram is adding a ‘Tag as event’ option to posts, with an event name, start and end times, a location and a map preview
Instagram is working on letting you choose what you see more of in its Inspiration feed
Instagram has redesigned its professional dashboard, splitting it into Summary and Tools
Instagram now lets you pick an effect before you start recording a Story
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| Threads |  |
Threads is testing a way to tell its algorithm what you want [Credit: @theahmedghanem]
Threads is testing ‘Your Algo’, a side-menu shortcut for telling the algorithm what you want more or less of for up to seven days. No public ‘Dear Algo’ post required
Threads now asks why you’re not interested when you tap ‘Not interested’ on a post, to sharpen your feed
Threads has launched a ‘Reply with this’ shortcut for image posts, letting you create cutouts from images and share them as stickers in replies
Threads is doubling the number of recognised Community Champions across its communities. Champions now get digital badges to share in the app
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WhatsApp Events can now include people who aren’t on WhatsApp [Credit: WhatsApp]
WhatsApp now lets you invite non-users to Events, part of a new Events section in Settings with RSVP tracking and reminders
WhatsApp is testing a way to peek at a message without triggering the blue ticks
WhatsApp is rolling out suggestions of recently captured media on your phone to share
WhatsApp is working on an uncompressed photo and video option, but only for WhatsApp Plus subscribers
WhatsApp is making message details easier to act on with some handy UX improvements
WhatsApp Business has added AI appointment booking, letting its AI book customers in for you. It hooks into Outlook, Apple Calendar, Calendly, SimplyBook.me and Zoho Bookings
WhatsApp Plus subscribers can now customise their default reactions
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| X / Twitter |  |
X Premium users get a fresh batch of app icons [Credit: 9to5Mac]
X Premium users have a fresh set of iPhone and iPad app icons
X is offering bonuses to creators who consistently upload new videos
xAI has added tough new usage caps on Grokbot. Elon Musk said users were costing the company too much money
X has rolled out refreshed Lead Gen Ads to all advertisers
X has rebuilt its web app to be much faster
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| TikTok |  |
TikTok is adding a Whee shortcut to Stories [Credit: Jonah Manzano]
TikTok is adding a Whee shortcut to Stories, plus a hand-drawn chat bubble style
TikTok has launched a Brand Safety Center for advertisers
The EU says ‘rabbit hole’ video feeds on TikTok violate its digital rules
TikTok is adding curated keyword packs to Search Ads
TikTok Shop is connecting content performance to actual sales, with a bunch of new updates for sellers
TikTok will livestream a companion show to the new season of NBC’s The Voice in the US
TikTok is set to hold an interactive livestream event focused on the Lucas Museum’s Star Wars collection
TikTok is partnering with the Women's Tennis Association for a livestreamed finals draw, and a creator club
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| YouTube |  |
YouTube is cooking up a mystery project called Tamba [Image: AI-generated]
YouTube is working on a mysterious project called Tamba
YouTube is giving some creators a 30-day fix-it window before their channels are terminated
YouTube has confirmed its weird split light/dark mode is a test, not a bug
YouTube has added 24 accessibility labels to Playables games, covering controls and input, audio and visuals, plus gameplay adjustments
YouTube is testing an iOS-style translucent floating nav bar on Android
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| Bluesky |  | / |
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Reddit is testing ads in its search results [Credit: Reddit]
Reddit is testing ads directly in search results
LinkedIn is rolling out a new post performance table showing exportable data on reach, engagement, video performance, saves, and sends
Google Search Profiles are picking up LinkedIn links
Bluesky is testing a moderation inbox for reports and appeals, letting you check if you’re close to being banned
Bluesky has added a dedicated pronouns field to help others refer to you in your preferred way
Bluesky has added a widget to display trending topics on your homescreen
Discord has rebuilt its video player with multiple playback speeds and more
Google is testing clickable creator names on video results in AI Mode, linking straight to creators’ Search profiles
You can now make GIFs with ChatGPT! 🎬
You can create an animation from a prompt or an existing photo
You can adjust playback speed and edit individual frames
Images 2.6 produces faster, more consistent edits
GIF creation is rolling out across web, desktop and mobile
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Also spotted this week…
Meta is adding voice and expressive avatars to Muse
Meta is turning Creator Assistant into a proper content co-pilot, suggesting trends to follow, building storyboards and more
Facebook’s AI answers are showing up in Google
WhatsApp is testing the ability to give separate AI chats their own names and profile pictures
WhatsApp is rolling out a new editing tool that generates extra background to create 9:16 versions of your photos
YouTube has expanded access to its AI music feature to help creators replace tracks flagged by Content ID
TikTok has added AI tools to help sellers make the most of Black Friday sales
TikTok’s latest ad tools put more decisions on autopilot
CapCut is updating its AI editing tools, with an updated desktop EditPilot, new creation and editing tools, and more
Adobe is bringing its CX Enterprise Coworker AI agent to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
TikTok is showing some users an option to create their own AI to help manage DMs
TikTok’s AI assistant Tako now has a Playground packed with trending AI image templates
Snap is making more money… but user growth is slowing…
The eye-popping results in the US midterms have sparked a wave of memes 😂
This article rounds up some crackers…
Those Jeff Bezos hair-transplant photos are fake! 💇
Edited photos of Bezos and Jason Statham are circulating on social media
The edits used older photos showing both men with shaved heads
Reverse-image searches traced the images back to older, unaltered photos
It remains unclear whether artificial intelligence was used to alter them
Even billionaire follicles need fact-checking, it seems…
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Also viral this week:
TikTok has found another thing to 'maxx': sound frequencies
This Costco superfan (yes, such a thing exists!) gets brand deals… without Costco paying her.
Laura Jayne Lamb has an audience of more than 5.7 million
Brands selling at Costco, including SharkNinja and P&G, sponsor her shopping posts
Costco neither employs nor pays her
A featured sweater reportedly prompted hundreds of store enquiries before selling out online a week later!
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More brand news and views:
Behind the scenes of Ikea’s rapid-response social team
What does a brand-funded creator series actually cost?
Old Navy is one of the first brands to post a long-form Instagram Feature, stuffed with creators and celebs including Paris Hilton and Charli D’Amelio
Gen Z isn't drinking milk like it used to. Enter the milk influencers (milkfluencers?)
"The internet has gotten so manipulated because it is so incredibly valuable to do so."
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Also quoted this week:
“We want to ensure humans are reviewing other humans' dating profiles and sending messages to other users on our apps. That's why we have put in place guardrails meant to prevent the use of AI agents on our platforms, like Tinder and Hinge."
- Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff is swiping left on AI agents in his company’s dating apps
Is this the end of US right-wing meme culture leading political discourse?
We’ll have to wait and see. But either way, this is a great read about what could be the end of an era.
Turns out X isn’t real life…
“It turns out you can’t post Malfoids and Anakin when diesel is $6 a gallon and expect America to vote for you.”
Meta has reportedly built a humanoid robot. 🤖 A second version is underway.
Max was reportedly built with China’s Fourier in three months
Reports describe Nvidia hardware, an expressive display and grasping hands
Max 2 reportedly entered development in September with revised hands and sensors
Prototype research: no announced launch or independently verified household capabilities
Meta’s next hardware experiment might have legs. Literally.
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More WTF this week:
DearCameo is an unusual roleplay experiment where you take on the persona of a historical dead person on a social network, with AI-generated replies 🤔
Small businesses say Meta’s AI bots are overwhelming their websites
Tumblr had a fanfic renaissance as AO3, a popular hub for the stories, went down
YouTube users on both Android and iOS have reported a bug that randomly minimises videos and kills audio 😳
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More fails spotted:
YouTube walked back its all-clear on the dreaded Server Error 400, confirming that some users still can’t access the app or watch videos normally
YouTube is mixing up light-mode and dark-mode elements… and confusing viewers
Instagram VP Tessa Lyons told Rachel Karten in an interview how short clips could drive long-video discovery:
Original clips linking to a Feature can run as Trial Reels
People who like a clip might later see the Feature in Explore
Series help match viewers with related episodes
Measuring enjoyment is trickier with long videos: someone might loop a 30-second Reel, but not an hour-long Feature
She favours shorter vertical Reels and longer horizontal Features. This is a direction, not a rule
Rachel suggests brands experiment with moderately longer videos, not hour-long leaps. That's her advice, not Instagram policy
Read more here…
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Also this week:
Social media image sizes for all networks, updated for November 2026
How much do creators actually keep when platforms pay them? It’s worth checking the details
Reddit has published a 2027 playbook for marketers
$1.22 TRILLION
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More social stats:
CAP IT UP: CapCut says more than 700 million people use it every month
OPEN UP: 69% of US adults think creators should clearly disclose when they’re promoting paid partnerships
SAY SOMETHING: LinkedIn commenters get 2.5x more profile views than non-commenters, and time spent reading comments is up 18% year on year
NOT TAGGED: Only 1.8% of organic TikTok posts by US ecommerce brands included TikTok Shop tags in a recent study
MINI SERIES, MAXI VIEWS: Microdramas on YouTube racked up 6.5 billion views in the first half of 2026
BLUER SKIES: US election night saw Bluesky’s daily posts rise 30% against the previous 30-day average, the company says
Which AI tool do you use to create marketing content?
In a recent survey, Claude leads the pack.
More bad smart glasses news for Meta: The UK government is considering restricting sales of smart glasses amid worries over surreptitious filming of women.
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Also spotted this week…
A member of Meta’s Oversight Board says platforms need stronger defences against AI harassment. [Oversight Board]
Australia's under-16 social media ban faces a High Court challenge. [ABC News]
A Brazilian court has temporarily blocked Meta’s publisher scraping terms in the country. [PPC Land]
Meta is buying AI coding startup Conductor. [TechCrunch]
Meta has hired an NBC News veteran to head up its own content marketing efforts at VP level. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Meta has reportedly stopped naming its AI models after fruit. [Business Insider $$$]
Big-name YouTubers are working to honour the legacy of the platform’s long-time CEO, Susan Wojcicki. [Tubefilter]
Facebook has expanded its Creator Fast Track program to Brazil. [Social Media Today]
Reddit shares fell 29% after its outlook disappointed investors. [The Verge]
TikTok US is taking US-based veteran-owned businesses to Daytona. [TikTok Newsroom]
New features and tests:
YouTube’s Quest app could be getting a new immersive view. [Upload VR]
Meta’s API v27 could change how your ads are set up. [PPC Land]
Instagram has redesigned its Story stickers tray with a cleaner, more organised layout. [@theahmedghanem]
Edits Plus is now available across the EU. [@oncescuradu]
Edits’ Carousel Editor has landed on Android. [@lindseygamble_]
Threads’ feed controls have reached EU users, on Android and web for now. [@oncescuradu]
Instagram now lets admins jump straight to another account’s notifications when they reach the end of the current one. [@theahmedghanem]
Facebook Groups has a new refresh icon, made from the Groups logo. [@theahmedghanem]
WhatsApp profile covers are rolling out to more users. [@theahmedghanem]
TikTok is renaming its ‘Balance’ feature to ‘Wallet’. [@oncescuradu]
Discord is rebuilding its desktop app to use much less RAM. [The Verge]
Twitch is putting Recaps on category pages. [Twitch blog]
Snapseed has added lens blur, community Looks, and more. [Android Authority]
Substack has added topic-based chats, curated Lists of recommended publications and more ways to convert readers, such as metered paywalls. [On Substack]
Adobe is bringing songs from Universal and Warner into its mobile video editor (for personal, non-commercial use only). [The Verge]
X has updated its post action menu with more tools and options. [@theahmedghanem]
“On TikTok, men and women sent back after living in the United States are documenting the reality of starting over — and finding an audience.”
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Also worth a read:
The secret behind Lula’s win in Brazil may be an ‘army’ – of social media creators
The comments section is becoming social media’s hottest real estate
This free creative app is like the Internet Archive meets Pinterest…
Clipart Studio lets you browse vintage magazines and cut out pictures, text and graphics
You can make digital collages, adding Wikimedia Commons images
Upload your own images and share creations publicly
It’s free, ad-free and works in any browser
It’s a digital scrapbook for anyone who misses making a glorious mess with magazines…
Now, where’s the Pritt Stick?
That’s a wrap for this week, folks.
Last Friday I took my teenage daughter to Matilda at the Royal Albert Hall: the 1996 film, a live orchestra, and Danny DeVito narrating. In person.
Then the original cast walked out for a surprise 30th anniversary reunion. A hall full of grown adults screamed like they’d just escaped the Chokey.
Pam Ferris was there too. Thirty years on, the Trunchbull is still terrifying.
Matilda was a huge part of my childhood, and of my daughter’s too. Watching it together, with the cast right there in front of us, was a proper double hit of nostalgia for both of us.
Have a magical weekend, geeks!
P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant
