Hello, geeks!

Welcome to your deepfake-free download of everything that went down in social media land this week.

Before we get into it… The secrets of LinkedIn’s algorithm revealed. (This is social media manager gold!) 🔥

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Thank you to everyone who sent me DMs and emails about my appearance in Channel 5’s Nicola Bulley documentary, which aired last week.

I was anxious about which bits of me they would use in the programme. But thankfully they made good edits. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about (almost). Missed it? You can watch the (cringe) clips here. 😬👀

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A few other quick bits before we dive into this week’s news (TikTok has had a very bad week!)…

• WATCH: I spoke at Duel.Tech’s Social Commerce Summit in London. Watch the full session for FREE. I think you might find it useful. ✨
  

• TRENDS: Sprout Social’s ‘11 Social Media Trends worth knowing about for 2024’ is worth a read 📊

• JOIN: Social media managers are LOVING Geekout Pro. Check out what top social media managers are saying about it.  🚀

Join us and claim it back as a work expense? More info about Geekout Pro: nas.io/geekout

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

The hottest headlines in social this week:

1. X Hits #1 in App Store Following News of Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview [PROPAGANDA-ING]

2. Meta To Expand Labelling of A.I. Generated Images Across All Its Platforms [SIGNPOSTING]

3. X Suffers Another Celeb Deepfake Scandel Featuring Drake [REOCCURRING]

4. Bluesky Is Finally Open To The Public [DEVELOPING]

5. X Signs Exclusive Content Deal With WWE To Stream ‘Speed Matches’ [ROYAL-RUMBLING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

TikTok’s troubling week

Discussion around TikTok in Washington, DC is still largely focused on China’s influence on the app. But users have another concern: the app itself is getting worse.

Remember when Instagram went a bit crappy because the developers put internal growth metrics ahead of user experience? They stuffed it with too many features for its design, and made it a less fun app in the process. Now that’s happened to TikTok.

Prime offender here is TikTok Shop, the platform’s big focus for growth this year. Social commerce isn’t a necessarily bad thing. But when you add the algorithmic boost shopping content gets to the sub-Temu tripe on offer from many sellers, TikTok has the vibe of a dollar store with particularly pushy sales staff.

Then there’s the removal of Universal Music Group content, which is ruining viral trends and frustrating UMG-signed artists who rely on TikTok to grow an audience.

Universal’s removal of the artists wasn’t TikTok’s decision, but the fallout shows how fragile TikTok’s appeal is, relying heavily on third-party content and video format already copied successfully by rivals.

As The Price of Music podcast explained this week, things could get a whole lot worse at the end of this month, when TikTok’s music publishing deal with Universal ends. Far more music, published by Universal but released by other labels, could face the chop.

And beyond that, TikTok just feels a bit tired to many users. As Katie Notopoulos explained this week:

There’s more: the shopping recommendations don’t quite work and Shop has too many scams, TikTok’s A.I. search suggestions are inventing drama between creators, and its algorithms have been accused of promoting misogyny.

It’s all just a bit too much, all at once. It makes for a worse user experience and it’s a massive turn-off.

Instagram turned a corner when it realised it was pushing against what users wanted the app to be. The app is far more pleasant to use now.

Can TikTok do the same?

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

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💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I gave my thoughts to Sky News about Facebook’s drama-filled history as it celebrates it 20th birthday:

Also:

• I was interviewed by Mashable about Facebook’s 20-year dominance of social media

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😆 LOL

Sometimes I wish this was real, but it’s probably best it’s not!

Zuck’s setup from 2004 actually looks better than his current ‘billionaire with a pile of books making a laptop stand’ desk.

Also:

• If X let you call the mother of an underage troll

• Steer clear of the middle aisle in Aldi

• A social media manager gets real about grammar

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📈 MEMES

With an alleged leaked video of a naked Drake trending on X, the memes began…

Apple released its Vision Pro headset in the US, and the memes were brutal:

Also:

• Richi Sunak was memed into a dull middle-manager crossed with The (UK) Office’s David Brent.

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🪧 BRAND SOCIAL

BeReal has opened up to celebrities and brands, and it’s going as badly as predicted.

Users–who just want to ‘be real’–were NOT impressed. It might be time to rethink how to turn this app in to a real business…

Also:

• The Mercedes Formula 1 team went straight for the snark when Lewis Hamilton announced he was dumping them for Ferrari.

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“Do you think Elon has proven to be the best possible steward for Twitter?"

“No... It all went south.”

– Jack Dorsey’s assessment of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, as recounted in one of the two upcoming books about the deal and its fallout

Also:

• Warner Music’s CEO says their deal with TikTok is “fair,” and believes the Universal Music deal will be resolved

• Mark Cuban says he'll be using Threads more after criticising X as Elon Musk's “echo chamber”.

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💡 IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Want to know more about Threads’ plans for the fediverse? The integration is almost ready to start rolling out, and a product manager share some insights with Wired:

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👀 MY FAV READS

Elon Musk wanted to improve Twitter, but he might have just made the future of social media better by making Twitter worse:

Also:

• The end of the social network

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👌 PRO TIPS

As TikTok starts to encourage more horizontal video, here’s how to make sure yours is just right to get the best reach:

Also:

• With LinkedIn making changes to profiles, here’s how to make the most of your About section

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🛠️ PRO TOOLS

As one person put it, “this rig is a social media manager’s maybach”👌 Check it out (and maybe get one for yourself) here.

@cphfw

Social media manager royalty #cphfw #tiktokfashion

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😮 WTF?!

I mean…. what….?

Also:

• Does Mark Zuckerberg have a mullet? An investigation

• TikTok appears to be automatically banning people with dwarfism because it thinks they’re underage

• Gen Z are so lonely they're posting friendship applications on Facebook

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🪦 RIP

Social media features heading for the graveyard:

Meta is killing its Web Chat Plugin on May 9th

Also:

• LinkedIn is removing its Creator Mode option, but most of the features will still be available

• REMINDER: Facebook is cutting off third-party app access to Groups, which is a major pain for some social media managers

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🤖 SOCIAL A.I.

All the ways A.I. is transforming social media:

Instagram is working on the ability to write a message with A.I.

• WhatsApp is working a feature to let businesses respond to support queries with messages generated by A.I.

• Facebook is now showing its new Write with A.I. feature to some users.

• LinkedIn has a new AI chatbot to help you find a job

• LinkedIn is adding new A.I.-powered message prompts to help improve your outreach

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💸 Q4-TERLY RESULTS

Some of socials biggest names have been sharing their Q4 2023 financial results:

Snapchat added more users, but parent company Snap posted lower than expected revenue in Q4:

• Snapchat rose to 414 million daily active users in Q4, a 10% YoY increase

• Snap lost a million users in North America, which is a significant note over the holiday period

• Total time spent watching its TikTok-like Spotlight feed increased more than 175% YoY

• Spotlight average MAUs increased more than 35%

But its profits seem to be as ephemeral as its messaging:

Also:

• Pinterest added 16 million more monthly active users in Q4, taking it up to 498 million MAUs

• Meta’s stellar performance in one graphic

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

$70 billion

– How much money YouTube says it has paid to creators, artists and media companies in the last three years

Also:

• 40% of the content that people see on Instagram now comes via A.I. recommendations

• 96% of online creators make less than $100,000 per year

• YouTube TV now has more than 8 million subscribers

• YouTube Shorts is now averaging over 70 billion daily views

• Bluesky added 800,000 new users on its first day open to the public

• 60% of UK scam cases came from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, dwarfing other platforms and phone scams. That’s according to research by online bank Revolut

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📈 CHARTED

Here are the average number of weekly app notifications for Gen-Z in the US, via consumer intelligence company Measure Control.

How bad is your red dot situation?

Also:

• YouTube has captured the attention of every generation

• The sheer scale of TikTok’s opponent, Universal Music Group

• Facebook continues to add users after 20 years of existence

• The top 100 most viewed US YouTube channels

• The top 100 most viewed YouTube channels worldwide

• The biggest challenge using major social media platforms in 2024… according to marketers

• TikTok is the #1 coolest brand for 13-17-year-olds, and #5 for 13-39-year-olds, according to new US research

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• Meta’s stock dividend could help Mark Zuckerberg maintain control. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Meta’s plans to label A.I. generated content don’t amount to much… yet. [Futurism]

• Instagram chief Adam Mosseri thinks a trending topics feature won’t boost Threads’ growth much. [Social Media Today]

• Meta is among big tech companies keen to know how the UK plans to test their A.I. models. [Financial Times $$$]

• Kara Swisher says a Facebook exec once warned that Mark Zuckerberg had panic attacks and could faint, years before his famously sweaty interview. [Business Insider]

• Meta’s Oversight Board plans to investigate posts about Australia’s referendum last year. [Reuters $$$]

• Meta employees are getting bigger bonuses thanks to the company’s recent stellar performance. [Business Insider]

• Meta has signed up to a UK and French pledge to curb spyware abuse. [Politico]

• Meta has shared details on the development of its A.I.-based ad targeting systems. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook now offers filters for notifications. [@jonahmanzano]

• Facebook has been spotted forcing horizontal videos into vertical video mode in the feed. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook is showing a “Add to album” button for all post types. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook is testing an ‘Up Next’ button for Reels. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook is testing a new UI for the story tray on Android. [@oncescuradu]

Instagram:

• Instagram is now hiding potential spam story viewers. You can’t see them, but they can still see your stories. [@jonahmanzano]

• Instagram now lets you add a custom background to your shared post in Stories, using the photo sticker. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram is developing Communities for schools. [@alex193a]

• Instagram now shows a warning when you receive a message from a recently created account, offering options to control the conversation. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram is working on the ability to send silent messages in Channels. [@alex193a]

• Instagram is still working on the ability to create chat notes. [@alex193a]

• Instagram has added an "Add Product" feature to create a product for linked to a post, showing the product name and price. [@theahmedghanem]

• Instagram is working on the ability to move regular stories to Close Friends. [@alex193a]

• Instagram is working on the ability to manage hidden reactions in Channels. [@alex193a]

Threads:

• Threads has added an "About this profile" section to the profile menu, to reveal all account information. [@theahmedghanem]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp is rolling out a commands feature to enhance chat interactions with businesses. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is testing a way to quick access calls with favorite contacts shortcut. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to pin channels. [WABetaInfo]

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

• Meta Business Suite now allows you to set up your WhatsApp business account from a mobile device. [@theahmedghanem]

• Meta Business Account is being renamed as Business Portfolio [@theahmedghanem]

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• YouTube says it will (eventually) make an Apple Vision Pro app, after all. [The Verge]

• Australian journalists are abandoning X in the wake of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, a survey shows. [The Guardian]

• It looks like X's deal with Paris Hilton is over, as they have removed her custom icon. [@theahmedghanem]

• X has been slammed by a Belgian regulator for not doing enough to stop children seeing explicit material. [Politico]

• BBC football pundit Gary Lineker says Elon Musk’s X has become increasingly toxic and he barely uses it now. [Deadline]

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• US lawmakers have urged the Commerce Department to put TikTok-parent ByteDance on the export control list. [Reuters $$$]

• TikTok execs met Israel’s president to discuss antisemitism on the platform. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Employers are worried about getting blowback on TikTok when they lay workers off. [Bloomberg $$$]

• TikTok has been sued by a former executive alleging gender discrimination. [Axios]

• TikTok should not be banned in the US, a key member of the House Select Committee on China has said. [Semafor]

• Defence contractor Scale AI quietly scrapped a deal with TikTok over security concerns. [Forbes $$$]

New features and tests:

• TikTok has added a new label to profiles you might know. [@theahmedghanem]

• TikTok now offers a lead form for business pages. [@theahmedghanem]

• TikTok is testing a new dropdown menu for choosing how to go live, instead of the old slider [@theahmedghanem]

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• ITN has sounded the alarm over fake online content featuring Robert Peston, Mary Nightingale, and others. [Press Gazette]

• Social apps are ramping up the amount of notifications they send. [Wall Street Journal $$$]

• Libs of TikTok is accused of inspiring bomb threats across the USA. [NBC News]

• Taylor Swift has followed Elon Musk in trying to silence the student who tracks celebrity jets. [The Verge]

• The UK’s Online Safety Act is not strong enough, says the mother of murdered school girl Brianna Ghey. [BBC News]

• Several US states are trying to require influencer parents to pay their kids. [Teen Vogue]

• Influencers are landing paid brand partnerships and UGC deals in an unexpected new way: Slack groups. [Business Insider]

• Finance ‘meme-lord’ Litquidity has revealed his true identity. [Financial Times $$$]

• YouTube’s CEO has compared content creators to Hollywood studios, saying their work ‘can’t be dismissed as user-generated content’. [Washington Post $$$]

• Mastodon found a bug that could have let hackers hijack user accounts. [TechRadar]

• A CEO is facing backlash after an influencer said he used his company's Instagram account to attack her. [Business Insider]

• Twitter alternative Spoutible’s API coughed up passwords, 2FA info, and tokens that could let attackers take over anyone’s account. [The Verge]

• Reddit’s revenue is up 20% ahead of its planned IPO, but ut isn’t profitable yet. [Bloomberg $$$]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

• Dark social: what you need to know. [Buffer]

• Mastodon, Threads, and the open future of social networking. [The Verge]

• How to stop notifications you didn't ask for on X, Instagram, TikTok, and more. [Axios]

• 13 things learnt from reading fifty-one 2024 influencer marketing trends articles. [Ryan Davis]

• Reddit has published a new report into how the platform is influencing purchase decisions. [Social Media Today]

• How to (easily) make perfect content calendars in Google Sheets. [Hubspot blog]

• Snap has compiled some tips for advertisers looking to tap into Super Bowl discussion. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

• Snapchat plans to unify its user experience across Spotlight and Stories. [TechCrunch]

• Snapchat’s chat view now has category tabs. [@jonahmanzano]

• CapCut now lets users enhance their voices, but only on desktop. [@oncescuradu]

• CapCut has added a new collection of Valentine’s Day-specific collection of templates. [@oncescuradu]

• Clubhouse is working on text to speech feature for chats. [@alex193a]

• Shopify is launching a tool that buys Meta and Google ads for merchants. [Business Insider]

• Tinder will send warnings to users who send inappropriate messages. [Mashable]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

“Realistic-looking shampoo bottles and seltzer cans are popping up on videos from digital creators on TikTok and YouTube in a new form of old advertising.”

• What we’ve learned from 20 years of Facebook

• How top LinkedIn creators are planning for 2024

• How TikTok Shop is taking on Amazon — one viral video at a time

• 10 common WhatsApp scams and how to avoid them

• How TikTok became Gen-Z's travel advisor

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😳 AND FINALLY…

Videos of guinea pigs enjoying life in a custom-built luxury shed have become a viral sensation on TikTok - with one video racking up more than 140 million views. 🐹

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

… And that’s a wrap. You just gained +3 social media manager IQ points. 🧠

A quick reminder… I will be making a flying visit to Brussels, Belgium (April), and Bolagna, Italy (June).

If you happen to live near these cities, and fancy a Geekout meet-up, drop me a reply to this email. I may be able to get you free tickets 👌

Right… I’m heading off to see if anyone has deepfaked me on X yet. (don’t get any ideas! Looking at you, Adam Flowers)

Goodbye, geeks!

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