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Hello, geeks!

Well hello again, and welcome to this week’s Geekout.

You’ll be relieved to know there will no more slushie engagement / proposal spam this week!

This week’s news has been dominated by…

• Elon launched his Wikipedia knockoff ‘Grokipedia’, and it’s as deranged as you’d expect. His personal page? A fan-fiction fever dream wrapped in PR spin 🙄
  -

• Threads debuted 'Ghost Posts' that vanish after 24 hours…unless Google indexes them forever. Slight bug. Oops 🙈
  -

• TikTok’s U.S-China sale drama continues…Trump and Xi’s talks stalled again, and people are worries about the app’s turning into a right-wing echo chamber are rising 😬

And it’s been a big week for new features spotted in the wild, including:

• Instagram’s new algorithm tuning tool

• WhatsApp’s shiny Apple Watch app

• Pinterest’s AI shopping assistant that wants to dress you better than your mum ever did

But before we get into it…
-

3 cool things
-

⚠️ What 560+ top marketers say will shape social in 2026 — and it’s not just AI!
-

🔥 This super-useful 2026 marketing toolkit — Based on 8,000,000+ data signals. Includes a plug-and-play calendar + cheatsheet.
-

❤️ The best media insider newsletters I read every week. [ad]

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• 🔥 How small social teams are scaling smarter — and avoiding burnout!

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

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

2. TikTok still in limbo in U.S. after Trump-China talks yield no deal [STALLING]

3. UK regulator Ofcom threatened social media giants with algorithm audits to protect kids online [FLEXING]

4. U.S. immigration agency is building a social media surveillance tool to track everything Americans say online [SNOOPING]

5. Threads launched ‘Ghost Posts’ that vanish after 24 hours [GHOSTING]

.

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Penned by industry veterans Ben Smith (ex-BuzzFeed News) and Max Tani, who have a combined 20+ years reporting in the trenches, Semafor Media isn't just news – it's the inside track on how news gets made. 

Expect sharp analysis, the occasional juicy scoop, and insights you can leverage in your own marketing (and media)  strategy.

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Grokipedia strengthens Elon’s reality distortion field

If I told you Elon Musk was launching his own rival to Wikipedia, what would you imagine?

You’d probably guess that it would be packed with pages copied from Wikipedia, blended with generous dose of racism and transphobia, topped off with a whole heap of praise for Elon Musk.

And that’s EXACTLY what Grokipedia, which launched this week, is.

Intended to complement X and its AI chatbot Grok, Grokipedia is an embarrassing mess. Even if you think Wikipedia is sometimes a little biased to the left, a version biased to the right doesn’t make things any better. Heck, even Grok agrees with that.

So why would Musk even bother? Here’s what I think…

X might not be the biggest success in the world, but Musk benefits greatly from it because so many politicians and journalists use it. That means, through the algorithm, he can expose them to ideas he wants to promote.

Let’s say he wants UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson to become more popular (and he does). Musk can highlight positive content about Robinson, get Grok to talk positively about him, and get Grokipedia to play down the more controversial aspects of his past.

Sure, other sources outside the X universe still have a more accurate picture of Robinson, but the more time you spend on X and other Musk products, the more likely to are to think he’s popular and credible. And if you’re a politician or journalist, that can affect your work.

It’s a pretty sure bet that the atmosphere on X already affects politicians and journalists. A reporter saying that an MP should be deported would have been a scandal a few years ago, but when it happens on X, it’s hard to argue that the vibes around that place didn’t help lead to it.

Musk is building his own reality that helps further his own political interests. Grokipedia helps reinforce that reality. Just because something is popular or a ‘fact’ there, doesn’t mean it is in real life.

The sooner influential people on X realise they’re being played, the better for society.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

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

• Mark Zuckerberg is excited to add more AI content to all your social feeds (whether you like it or not!)

• Meta apologised to Republicans for not resisting Biden-era content takedown pressure, calling it a mistake

• Meta added new ad restrictions on custom and lookalike audiences tied to health or wealth traits

• Meta is set to ship Project Aria Gen 2 to researchers in 2026, paving the way for future AR glasses

• Meta Horizon OS v81 introduced a redesigned Horizon Central with social hubs, avatar stores, and an immersive event arena

• Meta moved metaverse veteran Vishal Shah to head up AI product at its Superintelligence Labs division

• Facebook added a new content protection feature, mainly designed for Reels on Facebook and Instagram

__________

• Instagram is rolling out the ability to tune its algorithm, starting with Reels. You can add or remove topics based on your interests to be customise your feed.

• Instagram added new Halloween trigger words for Notes, a Halloween-y Ghost font for Stories, and a new spooky new chat theme 

• Instagram is finally adding a TikTok-like watch history for Reels

• Instagram is working on adding games to chats

• Instagram now supports 3D photos

• Instagram is testing a ‘New’ label on creators’ profiles to highlight new posts

• Instagram now lets you attach stickers to DMs, including conversation starter stickers

• Instagram now lets people see your post engagement across Meta’s apps when you cross-post your content

• Instagram is testing an update to DMs, with more space for Notes, Shots, and Maps within the interface

• Instagram plans to more clearly differentiate between video carousels and Reels

• Instagram is testing a new Notes type designed for sharing ideas

• Instagram will now show tips to help you stay safe in chats

• Instagram has two new font effects for Stories and Reels: ‘Comic’ and ‘Retro Chrome’

• Instagram is rolling out Picture-in-Picture mode for Reels to more users

__________

• Threads added disappearing ‘Ghost Posts’ that vanish after 24 hours. Likes and replies are private and go to your DMs

  … but an embarrassing ‘bug’ (now fixed) led to “disappearing” Ghost Posts showing up in Google search results

  … meanwhile, not everyone sees the point of Ghost Posts

• Threads now boasts 150 million daily users, up 50 million since December, and 400 million monthly actives

• Threads added reply approvals, and new activity feed filters, to let you better control replies to your posts

• Threads tweaked Communities with online statuses and community stats

• Threads now supports sharing long-form text to the fediverse

• Threads has added new time management settings, letting you set a daily limit and enable sleep mode

• Threads now supports new ad formats via its Marketing API

• Threads has plans to eventually add livestreaming features

• Threads has a new drop-down menu style button for the adding a topic to a reply

__________

• X is retiring the Twitter.com domain. If you use a hardware key or passkey to log in, you must re-enroll before 10 November or risk being locked out

• X ad chief John Nitti, once seen as a potential CEO of X, has left after 10 turbulent months

• X now lets you choose to display either your country or region in your account information

• X added a dedicated tab for message requests

__________

• WhatsApp is finally working on an Apple Watch app, bringing full-featured messaging to your wrist

• WhatsApp added passkey protection to end-to-end encrypted backups. Eliminating the need to memorize a 64-digit encryption key

• WhatsApp is testing a fresh profile design on Android that adds customisable cover photos

• WhatsApp is working on reaction stickers for Status posts

• WhatsApp will soon let you manage storage on a per-chat basis

• WhatsApp started asking users to accept new privacy updates related to ads in Channels and Status

• WhatsApp is working on the ability to create third-party groups, to comply with EU regulations

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to create and directly save stickers to personal packs

• WhatsApp is testing an emoji reaction bar and an ‘end-to-end encrypted’ label for calls

• WhatsApp is working on a feature that lets channel admins invite their contacts to follow their channels

__________

• TikTok is rolling out its new, enhanced inbox for content creators more widely on iOS

• TikTok has been slammed in the UK over safety after cutting Hundreds moderators

• TikTok is boosting creator pay with an up to 90% subscription revenue cut

• TikTok rolled out gamified videos and tips to boost digital safety

• TikTok added three new playbooks for Halloween on TikTok Live streamers

• TikTok now has a Halloween-themed Story mode

• TikTok now lets you mention Liked and Favorited videos, not just the ones you’ve posted

• TikTok now lets you save your video directly during the creation process

• TikTok now lets you disable HDR in videos and hide video tags

__________

• YouTube’s TV app is rolling out its Netflix-inspired makeover, with AI-powered upscaling, immersive previews, and QR code shopping

• YouTube is testing higher video upload limits, and thumbnail graphics of up to 50MB at 4K resolution

• YouTube now has 20 fun 'like' button animations linked to specific content or channel topics

• YouTube now lets creators opt out of live-stream leaderboards displaying top engaged viewers - not everyone was a fan

• YouTube will also let you opt out of AI upscaling on low-res videos

• YouTube is set to age-gate more gaming videos showing realistic human violence, and gambling content

• YouTube could expand Picture-in-Picture support to non-Premium users

• YouTube added 100 Halloween effects for YouTube Shorts on mobile

• YouTube Shorts now earn more per watch hour than traditional long-form videos

• Adobe is building a ‘Create for YouTube Shorts’ feature for Premiere

__________

• Snapchat introduced a new feature called ‘Buddy Pass’ for Plus subscribers, allowing them to share 7 days of free Snapchat+ membership with up to 3 friends

• LinkedIn is expanding its AI training to include data from users posts and profiles in the EU, UK, Canada, and Hong Kong starting 3 November. Opt out before then if you don’t want to be included!

• LinkedIn is super-charging Thought Leader ads with smarter campaign manager tools, including allowing use of posts from 1st to 3rd degree connections in such ads

• Bluesky has a new, deeper blue app icon (but did anyone even notice?)

• Bluesky added multiple accounts support and a new ‘Finance’ interest topic

• Truth Social will now to allow betting on election results

• Patreon upgraded its newsletter features. Creators can now include multiple videos and audio clips, add CTA buttons, and access new newsletter insights

__________

🔥 Want to see more hot NEW features spotted in the wild this week?

Just head to the ‘More news’ section below!

.

🤖 SOCIAL AI

The newest social media AI features spotted this week:

Adobe has developed an AI social media manager!

But it’s more likely to help you, than steal your job…

Also spotted this week 👀

• …However, Google also launched a new AI tool that takes direct aim at replacing social media managers in small businesses

• Meta's Advantage+ lead generation campaigns are now live globally, streamlining lead gen with AI, new verification options, CRM upgrades, and more.

• Instagram now lets you restyle your Story text using Meta AI

• YouTube launched Ask Studio, a real-time AI tool that scans comments for sentiment, highlights performance gaps, and generates content ideas on command

• YouTube Shorts can bring photos to life

• Facebook now lets you create AI-generated images directly on desktop

• TikTok announces two new AI tools for creators: Smart Split and AI Outline, to streamline content creation and boost revenue

• X introduced a new AI chatbot named Mika, expanding its anime-inspired bot lineup

• OpenAI’s generative AI video app Sora now lets users add custom pets, doodles, and avatars into videos

  … And Sora will now charge users $4 for 10 extra AI video generations, and will reduce the number of free generations in the future

• Pinterest launched ‘Pinterest Assistant,’ a voice-activated AI tool that makes personalised shopping suggestions

• Pinterest is revamping boards with AI to offer tailored recommendations, style ideas, and shoppable inspiration

• Adobe Firefly now includes AI soundtrack, speech, and video editor features, while Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Lightroom are all getting new AI features

• Canva launched its own foundational AI model to generate layered, editable designs via natural language prompts

• Reddit is alpha testing a new AI-powered ad tool aimed at streamlining campaign creation

• LinkedIn celebrated National AI in Work Day to help professionals find their edge, with free courses, a 5-day AI workflow challenge, and AI-powered interview prep

.

📈 SOCIAL FINANCE

The Q3 financial results for the major social platforms are in:

Meta added 60 million more active users in Q3 2025.

That brings Meta’s ‘Family Daily Active Users’ total to 3.54 billion across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads…

…With Threads now boasting 150 million daily users, up 50 million since December, and 400 million monthly actives (Zuck has Elon Musk’s X in his crosshairs)

Meta

• But Meta’s profits were hit by massive $15.9 billion one-off tax bill 

• Zuck revealed it might not use its $72 billion AI spend for superintelligence anytime soon - it could be used for traditional social apps in the meantime

• Meta’s Reality Labs reported a $4.4B Q3 loss, beating estimates but still bleeding cash

• And grab a tiny violin for Zuck, who fell to 5th in the billionaire Rich List after losing $29B in a day.

Reddit

• Reddit’s revenue soared 68% YoY in Q3 to $585M

• Global daily active users rose 19% to 116M.

• But U.S user growth slowed to just 7%

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn comments surged 24% in 2025 thanks to smarter feed algorithms.

• Video posts are now shared 20x more than other content types, while watch time rose 36% last year

• LinkedIn’s revenue increased by 10% in the latest period

YouTube

• YouTube’s ad revenue hit $10.3B in Q3, its highest ever, fueling Alphabet’s $102.34B quarter.

• Paid subscriptions across YouTube and Google One topped 300M.

• Google’s AI chatbot Gemini has hit 650M active users.

.

💬 YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT

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

Character.ai will block under-18s from chatting with its AI bots after lawsuits and safety backlash.

I gave my thoughts on the move to BBC News.

.

💀 LOL

Tap through below for more painfully accurate costumes in this carousel post 👇

.

📈 MEMES

Lily Allen dropped her new album last Friday and it is BRUTAL about her breakup with Stranger Things actor David Harbour.

How much of it is true and how much is fiction is difficult to work out, but it’s perfect material for memes, either way…

Also:

• 25 “how they see the world” memes that got progressively unhinged

.

🌡️ VIRAL

Are you in Group 7?

“What started as singer Sophia James promoting her song turned into a viral inside joke and full-blown TikTok community…”

And Sophia told Wired she’s baffled about how it all took off.

__________

Also going viral this week: 🔥

• Can you hit the beat? The Whitney Houston Challenge is humbling TikTok

• ‘Bird theory’ is the latest relationship test going viral on TikTok

.

🪧 BRANDS

‘Group 7’ might have started as a marketing stunt…

But that didn’t stop brands like Pizza Hut, Burger King, Wendy’s and Applebee’s putting their own spin on it:

More brand news this week: 👀

• Advertisers say they’re losing control over targeting and campaign strategy under Meta’s Advantage+ system

• Xbox and Snapchat have created an AR Lens that scans the moon to promote The Outer Worlds 2

• Reddit is seeing a surge in brand ad spend as its influence on AI search engines skyrockets.

• Reddit and G2 have joined forces to help software brands tap into Reddit’s massive user base.

.

🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“…When you play a character, you feel, at some point, you’ve grown into something else…”

- Jesse Eisenberg explained why he won’t reprise his role as Zuckerberg in upcoming Social Network movie sequel ‘The Social Reckoning’

Also overheard this week: 👂

• “…Being able to make a significantly larger investment here is very likely to be a profitable thing over some period…”

  -
  – Mark Zuckerberg justified Meta’s massive AI compute spend to investors
  -

• “…You may see some enforcement action from us in the next few months if we don’t start to get the answers that we’re looking for on the algorithmic side of things…”

  -
  – UK regulator Ofcom’s CEO Melanie Dawes threatens social media giants with algorithm audits to protect children from online harmful content

.

👀 MY FAV READS

Deepfake detection has a long way to go, but we need it NOW.

“OpenAI’s video generator uses a system that’s supposed to help online platforms tag deepfakes — so why aren’t we seeing them?”

.

😮 WTF?!

Remember those 2,396 XXX adult films Meta was accused of downloading to train AI?

Meta says that they weren’t for AI at all…

…they were just downloaded by horny employees! 😵 😈

Also WTF this week: 👀

• Legendary tech investment firm Andreessen Horowitz is backing Doublespeed… a bot farm disguised as a marketing tool

• Reddit says it caught Perplexity red-handed scraping Google search results for the platform… by laying a trap with dummy posts

• Cameo is suing OpenAI for using 'Cameo' as the name for its virtual likeness function in the Sora app

• Users are exploiting Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses to secretly film massage parlour workers, posting sexually harassing content on Instagram

• TikTok is flooded with self-proclaimed dating gurus pushing toxic, unverified advice

• OpenAI’s Sora lost its App Store throne to US fast-food chain Dave’s Hot Chicken after a one-day Drake birthday promo

• TikTok robot star Rizzbot gave a TechCrunch reporter the middle finger

.

🤦‍♂️ FAIL

Yikes…!

“…YouTube's recommendation engine exposed millions of users to an AI-generated NSFW thumbnail, appearing in feeds for unrelated searches...”

Also:

• OpenAI’s Sora powered a wave of fake Hurricane Melissa clips that flooded TikTok and Instagram

• Elon Musk confirmed that a “For You” bug hid posts from people you actually follow

.

📺 WATCH THIS

Meta is trying to revive Facebook’s emotional appeal with its first brand campaign in four years.

‘A Little Connection Goes A Long Way’ is aimed at engaging Gen-Z as the platform battles to make Facebook cool again…

…Not just a place for old folk a.k.a teen’s parent! 👴🏻👵🏻

.

👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

City of Toronto is looking for a Manager Digital Communications (Social Media) [Toronto, ON, Cananda]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

• Channel 4 needs a Social Media Apprentice [London, UK]

• Diabetes UK is hiring a Social Media Officer [Hybrid, multiple locations, UK]

• Next wants a Social and Content Executive [Leicester, UK]

.

🧪 SOCIAL SCIENCE

Does social media rot our brains? Maybe it’s less of an obvious link than you might think.

“…The link between social media use and poorer wellbeing is modest and shaped by our genetics, researchers in the Netherlands argue…”

Also:

• It really is harder to put down your phone at night: Scientists have found a reason

• The latest trends among news creators and influencers are uncovered in the Reuters Institute’s useful new report

.

👌 PRO TIPS

What does good look like on Facebook in 2025?

Buffer looked at data from 52 million+ posts to find insights on engagement rates, and lots more useful insights…

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

• OnlyFans is launching a business series for creators, with lingerie founder and ex-SuicideGirl Rachael McCrary

• 17 Threads stats you need to know in 2025 (and what they mean for your strategy)

• Meta says Marketing Mix Modelling beats clicks for measuring campaign impact across platforms.

• The hidden YouTube feature that actually makes watching feel calmer

• 9 fun ChatGPT image prompts that you can try right now

.

📊 SOCIAL STATS

$10.3 BILLION

– YouTube ad revenue rocketing in Q3 to its highest ever figure

Even more social stats: 📈

• PAY DAY: A 2025 Social Media Salary Survey reveals senior social media professionals (12+ years experience) now average $162K—a 12% YoY jump!

… But disappointingly, men earn 23% more than women across roles ($123K vs. $100K)

• GOING SOCIAL?: Roughly 20% of OpenAI staff now hail from Meta, fuelling concerns the AI firm is adopting big tech habits

• RED HOT: Reddit’s stock has surged over 300% since early 2024, fuelled by its prized status in the AI data wars

• TOTAL DRAMA: YouTube is officially the king of microdramas, nabbing 44% of all vertical drama views worldwide

• X IN THE EU: X saw EU user numbers rise to 102 million in its latest DSA report, up from April’s 94.8 million

• SOCIAL SHOPPING: Nearly half (44%) of Gen Z shoppers now buy through social media, with TikTok driving discovery and purchases

• JUST LOOKING: Only 10–15% of users post publicly on OpenAI’s Sora, echoing TikTok’s power-user dynamic

• AI CREATION: According to a global Adobe survey, 86% of creators use creative generative AI in their work

• AI FEAR: LinkedIn research showed 41% of professionals feel overwhelmed by AI’s rapid rise in 2025

.

📈 CHARTED

YouTube has topped the ranking of news platforms as creators eclipse traditional media…

More charts: 📈

• TUBE TASTE: The types of YouTube content favoured in different countries

• TV TUBE: YouTube versus rivals on US TVs

.

💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

…and Australia is rolling out an ad campaign ahead of December's under-16 social media restriction law. [Social Media Today]

• Google started rolling out YouTube-style age checks for Play Store. [Android Authority]

• The US Department of Homeland Security has tried to unmask an ICE-spotting Instagram account by claiming it imports merchandise. [404 Media]

• YouTube restructured its product org, promoting Christian Oestlien to lead all subscription services [Variety]

.

📰 WEEKEND READS

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

“…Parents and kids are negotiating over what to post and if ‘getting permission’ means anything. For many, the effort is no longer worth it…”

More great weekend reads:

• The battle to shape human thought: Altman vs. Zuckerberg

• How Pinterest is courting Gen Z with ‘safer’ social media

.

😳 AND FINALLY…

What’s the best way to kill a TikTok trend among kids..?

Their mom and dad jumping on it!

If you’re a parent, here’s your Halloween outfit for tonight…

It’ll certainly give lots of teens a fright… Or unbearable levels of cringe:

.

📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

…And that’s everything new and noteworthy in social media land this week.

I’m heading off to finishing setting up our front porch ready for Halloween.

My scare goal? Epic Ring doorbell footage for TikTok, like this… 💀👌

@quantum_ai_design

#halloween #viral #scareprank #spirithalloween2025 #spirithalloween

Happy Halloween… And goodbye, geeks! 🎃 👻

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