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Hello, geeks!

Welcome to star-studded edition of Geekout ⭐️

I found myself face to face with an A-List Hollywood celebrity this week.

But who was it? And how did i bump into them?

More on that in a moment.

But first, I highly recommend you check these FREE things:

• 3 brands cracking the 2025 Instagram code: Includes strategy breakdowns + smart tactics 👉 Get FREE Playbook [ad]

• This FREE newsletter is the media industry insiders’ secret weapon. It’s seriously good👌

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Geeking out with Ryan Reynolds 🤩
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Last weekend, I took the kids to Wrexham AFC’s final home game of the season — and let’s just say, it was not your average day at the football.

We were invited as special guests by the brilliant folks at Maximum Effort — Ryan Reynolds’ production company and digital marketing agency.

The day kicked off with player meet-and-greets, a fancy pre-match meal in the 1864 suite, and great seats to watch the match.

And then, just before kick-off… we bumped into the main man, and his wife Blake Lively. Watch the exact moment it happened here.

I admit, I was starstruck. And the kids froze in shock. My son didn’t miss a beat and asked Ryan: “Can you buy Cardiff F.C. as well?” (Spoiler: he politely declined. 🤣)

Ryan and Blake chatted with us for a few minutes — and yep, he’s every bit as charming and ridiculously good-looking in real life as you’d expect. Annoying, really. 😄

To top it all off, Wrexham smashed it with a 3–0 win and sealed promotion again. My son joined the full-on pitch invasion at the final whistle. Total chaos. Total joy.

Massive thanks to Noah at Maximum Effort and Tina at Wrexham AFC for the invite. It was an unforgettable day out!

P.S: I also thanked Ryan for this most perfect tweet:

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. Meta's AI chatbots engaged in sexual roleplay with accounts teens [DISTURBING]

3. Snapchat scrapped plans for a ‘simple’ redesign of the app [BINNING]

4. Meta says EU users may face worse experience following DMA breach ruling [FEARMONGERING]

5. Reddit banned researchers who used AI bots to manipulate commenters [MANIPULATING]

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT…

Zuck thinks AI can be your friend

While Meta has been extremely busy in the AI space for years now, this activity has always seemed to be quite detached from the company’s core social platforms.

AI-enhanced ads might be driving some good results, but end users haven’t seen meaningful improvements to their experiences as a result of AI.

Even steps like adding the Meta AI chatbot into Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp felt like it was bolting on a little-needed addition. Do many people really want a chatbot in those apps?

This week was packed with Meta AI announcements, and we got a sense for how Mark Zuckerberg feels about how AI should integrate with the company’s social media offerings.

The new standalone Meta AI chatbot app was the most high-profile addition. It comes with a Midjourney-style feed of things other people are talking to it about and have chosen to share. This could be a confusing experience for users used to chatting to ChatGPT in private, but it adds a social dimension to an otherwise solo experience.

Zuck’s big idea is that chatbots are a solution to people not having enough friends. Speaking on a podcast this week, he said: "There's the stat that I always think is crazy, the average American, I think, has fewer than three friends… And the average person has demand for meaningfully more, I think it's like 15 friends or something, right?"

The solution? AI “friends”.

And of course, if Meta can create your friends for you, it can control your access to “friendship” to a far greater degree than it already does. That sounds incredibly bleak.

In a world where Meta chatbots can engage in sexting minors’ accounts, the hazards of artificial friendship are all too clear. Just because AI can create friends for you, doesn’t mean it should. Social media should empower human connection, not replace it.

In related news:

• Meta is tapping creators for support in launching its Meta AI app

• Mark Zuckerberg is planning a premium tier and ads for the Meta AI app - this is clearly intended as another major launch, not just an experiment they’ll easily drop

• Meta’s new AI app not working for you? Meta reworked their old smartglasses setup app to create the Meta AI app, but that led to confusion for many, including the Geekout team. Here’s how Meta’s VP of product for generative AI explained the confusion to Martin on Threads.

• Zuck says AI can lead to entirely automated advertising

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

Meta / Facebook 👥

• Facebook is testing a downvote button to help flag spammy or low-quality comments

• Meta battled with the FTC in its antitrust case over what defines a social network

• Publishers are seeing a surprise spike in Facebook referral traffic and payouts from Meta’s new content monetisation program

• Meta's $1000+ HUD glasses are reportedly on track for October release

• Mark Zuckerberg says Apple's App Store rules blocked Facebook from being a "platform within a platform," killing its web-based app ecosystem

• UK regulator Ofcom has warned Facebook over scam ads and publisher bans

• Facebook has added a copyright checker for Reels on Pages

• In Europe, just 0.007% of EU users have opted to pay for Meta’s ad-free plan

• Meta revealed it tested increasing the number of ads users saw in feed — and barely anyone noticed

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Instagram ✨

• Instagram rolled out its “Share Only to Profile” option to more users, letting users post content without it appearing in anyone’s feed

• Instagram may soon let you add custom colours to Notes

• Instagram launched a new UI for the text editor available for Reels

• Instagram rolled out the ability to share your Stories to WhatsApp alongside Facebook

• Instagram added an indicator showing how many of your friends have shared their location on the map

• Instagram added new animation effects for text placed on Instagram Reels, including ‘Reveal, ‘Flicker’, and ‘Karaoke Screen’

• Instagram also added new text effects for Reels, including ‘Halo, ‘Digital’, and ‘Knockout’

• Instagram is testing a new way to display carousels shared to Stories

• Instagram’s new ‘Edits’ app hit 7M downloads in its 1st week, a bigger launch than CapCut’s

• Instagram rolled out the “Collage” and “Highlights” Story features to more users

• Instagram started blocking minors from accessing its AI chatbot platform, following a WSJ investigation that revealed its chatbots were sexting teens

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WhatsApp 🟢 / Threads 🧵 

• WhatsApp could soon let you make video and voice calls on the web

• WhatsApp’s new Netflix documentary on Formula 1 is a masterclass in turning advertising into entertainment

• WhatsApp is working on sticker reactions

• WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to create group chats without needing to add members right away

• WhatsApp may soon let you choose how voice messages are transcribed — Automatically, Manually, or Never

• WhatsApp is testing a quicker way to record voice messages with a single tap

• Threads is now prompting users to share posts to Instagram Stories

• Threads added “Custom Feeds” to notification settings, allowing you to manage whether you want to be notified when someone adds you to their feed

• Threads added a new shortcut on your profile to access your insights (like Instagram).

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Twitter (‘X’) 🤡

• X now has 600 million MAUs, with Gen Z now 31% of new users, according to CEO Linda Yaccarino

• …But X has also lost 11 million users in Europe, according to its latest EU DMA filing

• X CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed Community Notes has hit 1 million users

• Elon Musk has promised a new Grok-powered algorithm to combat a "troll wasteland" on X

• X is rolling out support for 4K videos

• X removed the verification badge from its Basic plan perks

• X provided explanations of common reach restrictions amid accusations of shadowbans 

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YouTube 📺

• YouTube is testing blurred thumbnails for NSFW / adult content

• YouTube is strengthening its violent content policies by age-restricting scripted videos with human actors depicting realistic torture or violent deaths with blood

• YouTube’s TV and console app now has had an overhaul, with Top Channels, Podcasts and Shorts Features

• YouTube is testing a sleeker floating player on Android

• YouTube is now testing Comment Previews on Shorts

• YouTube now shows the status of uploads while they’re pending on channel pages

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TikTok 📱

• TikTok will now let advertisers drive leads to WhatsApp, Messenger, and More, with a new “other messaging apps” ad goal

• TikTok has been fined €530 million for sending EU data to China

• TikTok Shop’s Creator Centre has introduced a new “Video Pre-Check” feature under the Shop Toolkit section

• TikTok rolled out the option to upload videos up to 60 minutes long to more users

• TikTok revealed users spend just 1% of time in ‘Friends’ feed (tab), when using the app

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Telegram / LinkedIn / CapCut… 💬

• Telegram has added fully encrypted group calls and smart business features

• LinkedIn is launching original video shows featuring creators like Steven Bartlett and Rebecca Minkoff, and it’s doing a revenue split with them

• LinkedIn now lets users verify their profile with a hidden legal name

• LinkedIn now prompts users when they visit Company Pages to allow them to see that they have visited

• LinkedIn upgraded its tool for generating embedded posts on third-party sites. The new embed format features a cleaner design, more compact previews, clearer LinkedIn branding, and real-time engagement metrics.

• CapCut added a new “Autocut” feature for videos in the “Templates” section

• CapCut has added ‘Creator Messages’ in the messaging inbox

• CapCut on iOS (beta) introduced two new features, “Collage” and “Capture”

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🔥 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 A.I.

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

Also spotted this week 👀

• Meta’s Llama is being deployed entirely offline on the International Space Station

• Meta’s revealed its Llama AI models have hit 1.2 billion downloads

• Meta has launched a Llama API to boost developer access to its AI models

• Meta has tightened its privacy policy around Ray-Ban glasses to boost AI training. It’s removed the option to stop voice recording storage, and may store them for up to a year

• Meta is working on adding the reasoning feature to its new Meta AI app

• Meta is working on two new voice settings for the Meta AI app: 1. Focus on my voice and 2. Welcome message

• Meta is working on adding the Discover AIs tab to the Meta AI app

• YouTube is testing AI overviews in search results

• Grok for iOS got an ‘Autoplay suggestions’ toggle on voice mode

• Elon Musk announced Grok 3.5 will be released to SuperGrok subscribers next week

• Pinterest has rolled out labels for AI-generated pins, and new tools to see less AI content

• LinkedIn shared insights into AI adoption, and tips on how to integrate AI tools

• Reddit will integrate AI Answers into its main search bar

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📊 QUARTERLY RESULTS

A bunch of social media companies announced their quarterly financial results this week.

Here’s how the numbers stacked up for Meta, Reddit, Snap, and LinkedIn…

• WhatsApp now has 3 billion monthly users, joining Facebook as Meta’s second app to hit that mark

• Threads revealed it now has 350 million users, closing the gap with X which claims to have 600 million users

• Reddit surged to 108 million daily users and $392 million revenue in Q1 2025

• Snapchat hit 900 million users globally, but lost 1 million users in the US

• Snap warned of an ad slowdown as Trump’s trade policy hits Chinese advertisers

• LinkedIn reported ‘record engagement’ in Q3 2025, with 9% session growth and 7% revenue growth YoY, while video watch time rose 36% and comments jumped 32%

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💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

I spoke to The Telegraph about why users aren’t finding WhatsApp's AI useful:

Also this week:

• Are hashtags dead? I gave my thoughts to Content Is Not King on hashtags in 2025, explaining how hashtags are now platform-specific tools

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😆 LOL

If you know British slang… 👇😳

To be fair, Meta’s comms pitbull Andy Stone saw my post and made clear they’re sorting it out…

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🌡️ VIRAL

PICK-A-POPE: Who will be the next Pope? A TikTok user launched a “Fantasy Pope League” ahead of the official papal conclave starting May next week..

Players were assigned a cardinal via sweepstake, earning points based on voting performance.

The game attracted over 2,000 sign-ups in its first day and 100,000+ views.

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🪧 BRANDS

Using trending music in your brand’s TikToks? This is (another) warning to maybe stop doing that.

Warner Music is suing cookie brand Crumbl for allegedly using 159 unlicensed songs in TikTok and Instagram ads.

Tracks by BTS, Lizzo, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift were allegedly used without permission, and WMG is seeking up to $150,000 per song, totalling nearly $24 million in damages. 😬

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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

"All this digital stuff should just basically be holograms. You shouldn't need a physical screen"  

- Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the future where he sees smart glasses helping you cut down on your screen time

Also overheard this week:

• “If people don’t listen to that ticking clock beating loudly in their ears, they’re going to get a very nasty surprise. This is the wake-up moment.” – Piers Morgan thinks platforms like YouTube are almost ready to annihilate traditional media
  

• “Our bet is sort of that in the next year... maybe half the development is going to be done by AI as opposed to people, and that will kind of increase from there." – Mark Zuckerberg is bullish on AI’s coding capabilities
  

• “This is not merely an innocent oversight; it is a flagrant violation of the trust that parents and families place on your platforms” — Two US senators slammed Meta over the AI chatbots that sexted teens
  

• "Our default as an American company should be to try to have a productive relationship with whoever is running the government” – Mark Zuckerberg defends Meta trying to get close to the Trump administration
  

• “Screens in whatever form do not meet children’s needs. Worse, they hinder and alter brain development, [causing] a lasting alteration to their health and their intellectual capacities”. – Top French health bodies say children under six should avoid all screen time
  

• “What about the next Taylor Swift?” – Judge Vince Chhabria says the core issue in the Meta AI copyright case is whether Meta’s AI harms book sales or creator careers

📺 MUST WATCH

ZUCK’S AI VISION OF THE FUTURE: Want to understand how Mark Zuckerberg sees the future of AI?

Check out his in-depth interview with Dwarketsh Patel…

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👀 MY FAV READS

A look at the growing right-wing Trump-o-sphere on TikTok, and how it might have saved the app from a ban in the US…

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😮 WTF?!

Reddit isn’t a social media platform… apparently 🤔

Also this week 👀

• Fake Facebook and Instagram ads promised Americans $750 or $5,600 “tariff relief” credits, tricking users into sharing personal information

• Hackers are targeting Microsoft 365 accounts via WhatsApp and Signal 

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🤦‍♂️ FAIL

“When pushed for credentials, Instagram's user-made AI Studio bots will make up license numbers, practices, and education to try to convince you it's qualified to help with your mental health.”

Also:

• Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf is fighting deepfakes of himself promoting fraudulent investments on Meta’s platforms

• Meta is slowest to remove scam content, according to the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority

• It’s not just Meta. A bug in ChatGPT allowed minors to prompt the AI into generating graphic erotic content, too

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

Red Bull needs a Specialist, Social Channels [Toronto, Canada]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• Major League Soccer is hiring a Manager, Social Media [New York City, NY, USA]

• Samaritans is looking for a Media and Communications Manager [Hybrid / Ewell, Surrey, UK]

• Music venue Koko is recruiting a Social Media and Marketing Co-ordinator [Hybrid / London, UK]

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👌 PRO TIPS

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• The best times to post on TikTok in 2025, Backed by new data

• Instagram shared tips, tricks, + ideas to boost engagement with Stories

• Reddit statistics in 2025 and tactics to grow your brand

• TikTok has published a 2025 Fashion Playbook for brands

• LinkedIn has shared technical specs and posting tips for video Content

• Threads analytics: A no-stress guide for 2025

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

$1.4 TRILLION

- How much revenue Meta thinks it will generate from generative AI by 2035

Even more social stats: 📈

• TRUMPED UP: Team Trump has 2.8 BILLION views on TikTok this year alone, compared to 670 million for the Democrats

• SNAPPED OUT: In 2024, Snapchat removed 2.4 million drug-related posts and banned 516,000 accounts

• ADDING UP: Meta and Google soaked up more than half of the UK’s £42.6bn ad spend in 2024

• LINKEDIN GAMES: Games on LinkedIn are a hit. 84% of players return daily, and 830,000 subscribe to the games newsletter.

• JOB CREATION: Creator jobs jumped 7.5x from 200,000 in 2020 to 1.5 million in 2024

• LIVEWIRE: TikTok says creators are earning $10 million per day via livestreaming, with 80% from users with under 50,000 followers.

• STILL GOT IT: Grand Theft Auto 5 was Twitch’s most-watched game in 2024 with 1.4 billion hours

• PINTERESTING: 36% of consumers now start searches on Pinterest—rising to 39% among Gen Z, according to a new Adobe survey

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📈 CHARTED

How the livestreaming platform market looks in 2025…

More charted social insights spotted this week: 👀.

• THREADING UP: Threads is closing the user gap with X

• X-ODUS: X’s user decline in Europe

• ELON PROBLEM: Bluesky’s growth seems mainly driven by Elon Musk doing unpopular things

• GETTING REAL: Quarterly losses for Meta’s Reality Labs

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

• As brand deals slow, some creators are turning to salaried roles for stability. [DigiDay $$$]

• The UK's Children's Commissioner is calling for a ban on AI deepfake "nudification" apps. [The Guardian]

• YouTube is celebrating its 20th anniversary by returning as title sponsor for VidCon Anaheim. New and classic creators will join it. [TubeFilter]

• 4chan is back online after a days-long outage. The /f/ (Flash) board is permanently gone, and PDF uploads are temporarily disabled. [Mashable]

• TikTok ban fears have spurred US music promoters to explore Instagram and YouTube creators. [Digiday $$$]

• Pinterest has broken its silence on the mass account bans, but users aren’t happy. [Mashable]

• Pinterest has expanded its Inclusion Fund to more global creators. [Social Media Today]

• Widespread power outages in Spain and Portugal disrupted YouTube’s customer support operations. [TechCrunch]

New features and tests:

• Reddit now supports translation of posts and comments to Hindi. [TechCrunch]

• LinkedIn has rebranded its Wire programme to BrandLink, and added creator video content. [LinkedIn News]

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📰 WEEKEND READS

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

More great weekend reads:

• Whatever happened to the Kids Online Safety Act?

• Inside Threads’ secret launch strategy: What went right — and wrong

• How MrBeast became the most powerful creator on the internet

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😳 AND FINALLY…

Blue Sky is hot right now… the Blue Sky paper company, that is….

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

And that’s everything that went down in social media land this week.

I’m heading off to the hospital as my son is about to head into surgery for an operation on his leg. (nothing serious, thankfully).

The odds of bumping into another Hollywood celeb at University Hospital of Wales feel fairly low.

Have a great weekend, geeks!

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