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Hello, geeks! | This week's Geekout intro is a little different. | That may be good or bad news, depending on how you feel about my regular opening ADHD social brain dumps each week! 😁 | But before we get into it… | How much do social media managers REALLY earn in 2024? 💰🤔 | Do you need to negotiate a pay rise? 😮 | » Check here « (+ get top tips for salary negotiation!) | __________ | As I mentioned, this week's intro is a little different because as you read this, I will be sitting anxiously in a hospital waiting room. 🏥 | My son is having a three-hour operation. Nothing too serious, thankfully. | But it does mean I have had to delegate finalising this week's Geekout into the safe hands of Geekout editor (Martin SFP Bryant). ❤️ |  | Martin, working on this week's Geekout earlier today. You're meant to be looking at the screen, dude. |
| So, I thought I would take this opportunity to say a big thanks to you. Yes, you! | Geekout Newsletter is my most favourite thing I work on. But it wouldn't be possible to keep doing it if it wasn't for you lovely lot reading it, sharing it, and clicking on the links every single week. 📧 | More than 33,000 of you open my newsletter every week. And because you do, i am able to carry on geeking out about social media (and pay my bills!) 💵 | I don't take this for granted. I'm sure you probably get a bunch of different newsletters every week. I'm just thankful my Geekout Newsletter is one of them. 🙏 | So… Sincerely, thanks for being here. I hope my geeky sense of humour, healthy dose of sarcasm, and social media obsession continues to educate entertain you in 2024, and beyond. 😁👊 | | __________ | DON'T MISS THIS… | Iris is the AI social media assistant you've been looking for. 🔥 | Wave goodbye to repetitive social tasks (and wasted time). This thing rocks. | Check out the full details below. (FREE Trial for Geekout readers) 👇 |
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Social Media Managers — This AI Tool Will Save You 20+ Hours Every Month | | Managing social media can get reaaaaaaally repetitive. 😒 | But….It doesn't have to be this way. | Meet Iris, the AI Social Assistant that will help you do more and deliver results your boss will LOVE
| Iris writes captions, video scripts, content briefs, and everything in-between, helping you create viral content... faster! | You control the strategy, Iris AI automates the repetitive boring bits! | 📆Content calendars auto-magically planned for you in just a few clicks | ✨Instantly turn ANY asset into an engaging post in a flash | ✏️ First-draft captions & hashtags auto-suggested for you in seconds
...and much more! | The best part? There's NOTHING generic about Iris AI | 🗣️Brand Voice: Iris writes on-brand copy that matches your brand's voice. No more generic AI rubbish! | 🎛️ Strategy Controls:Iris follows the unique strategy and posting preferences you've created for your brand. | ⚡️ Niche-concious: Suggestions are always on topic and highly specific for your business | This is the AI tool you've been searching for. ❤️ | Get a 1 MONTH of content planned (with AI assistance) for FREE! [ad] | |
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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5 | Geekout's pick of the hottest headlines in social this week: | /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24805892/STK160_X_Twitter_0010.jpg) | Shooting conspiracies trend on X as Musk endorses Trump |
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| Trump says 'I'm for TikTok' as potential US ban looms [FLIPPING] Elon Musk vows to move X headquarters out of California [MOVING] TikTok Loses First Court Challenge to EU's Big Tech Crackdown [LOSING] Privacy concerns mean Meta won't bring future multimodal AI models to EU, but the UK will get them [WITHHOLDING]
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Support Geekout. Become a Social VIP ❤️ | | Every week, I spend over 2 days pulling Geekout Newsletter together to keep you in the know, saving you hours of research… | …And I give it to you for FREE. | If you'd like to support my work AND get access to:
- Breaking social media news alerts via WhatsApp 🚨
- Geekout's secret VIP chat channels 💬
- Early access to hot new social apps 📱
… and more! 👌 | … Join Geekout Pro (500+ members!) | It costs just £5 / $6 a month or £50 / $60 a year. A bargain! | Many Geekout Pro members expenses the small cost to their employers. | By becoming a Geekout Pro member you are supporting my work to keep bringing Geekout Newsletter to you and 32,000+ other social media managers for free, every Friday. ❤️ | |
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🚨 EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT… | Trump's near-death experience helps shape the social media battleground |  | Shooting conspiracies trend on X as Musk endorses Trump |
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| The news cycle being what it is, the shock of last weekend's assassination attempt on Donald Trump already feels like a distant memory. | But it's certainly had an impact, and signalled how social media activity might unfold as US election season kicks into full gear. | The first thing to pay attention to is how platforms seem less keen to tightly moderate information this time. Conspiracy theories ran wild on platforms like X and Threads in the hours after the shooting. | In the olden days of 2016 and 2020, Twitter would at least have had professional journalists running explainers against search terms. X has Community Notes, but that's about delegating moderation to users, rather than top-down conversation-shaping. | You can argue about whether or not that's a good thing, but it's a notable shift. | This being 2024, AI image generation had a role to play, as it likely will in the coming months. This will not necessarily be to mislead, but to create grassroots campaign material. Truth Social exploded with AI images of Jesus protecting Trump from his assassination attempt, for example. | And some things never change; of course 4chan got involved with spreading falsehoods. | Meanwhile, Meta quietly lifted all restrictions on Trump's accounts. And Elon Musk outright endorsed Trump. X even seemed to go full MAGA, although it's unclear whether this is something the Trump campaign paid for or something Musk offered as in-kind support. | The days of Trump being persona non grata after January 6th 2021 are long gone. Trump himself now outright backs TikTok, in part due to his hatred of Mark Zuckerberg, and no doubt because pro-Trump content does well there. | And as a number of influencers came out as pro-Trump (let's face it, they're mostly the ones you'd expect to!), it's clear influencers will have a strong role to play this time around. |
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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY | Everything else you NEED to know from the past seven days… |
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 | Facebook now gives you more after-publishing control of Reels |
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Meta / Facebook 👥 |
Meta has launched a pilot programme to allow social researchers to analyse Instagram data Meta has suspended its generative AI tools in Brazil over privacy concerns The Open Rights Group has urged the UK to take action against Meta over its training of AI on user data Facebook now allows you to edit Reels even after posting Meta says it won't sue a researcher over a Facebook feed-killing tool… yet Meta is planning to cut back is spending on its Reality Labs division … but Meta Quest 4 is reportedly coming In 2026, followed by Quest Pro 2 in 2027
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 | Big upgrades for Instagram Notes |
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Instagram ✨ |
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 | WhatsApp Favorites |
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WhatsApp 💬 / Threads 🧵 |
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 | It's raining flags as X goes MAGA |
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 | YouTube Shorts thumb frame customisation |
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YouTube 📺 |
YouTube is developing thumb frame customisation for Shorts clips YouTube is testing Community Spaces to drive fan engagement on select channels YouTube creators' videos have been used without permission as AI training data by Apple, Nvidia, and Anthropic Popular YouTube creators have missed out on Emmys nominations, despite the platform's CEO pushing for their inclusion Google's Emoji Kitchen has launched a YouTube Shorts effect for World Emoji Day
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 | TikTok's Eventbrite integration |
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TikTok 📱 |
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😆 LOL | Social media managers know best… | | As someone who deleted his dating apps this week (🙌), this made me laugh a bitter laugh of relief: | |
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🪧 BRANDS | Arsenal fans might not be happy that the club's new away kit looks like a can of every British teenage boy's favourite deodorant, but Lynx jumped on the official announcement of the kit this week. | They shared this fun 'accidental collaboration' on Instagram. This brilliant piece of reactive marketing was flagged to me by Beth Thomas over on Geekout Pro. | | lynx |  |
|  | View more on Instagram |
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📈 MEMES | While others at his rally weren't so lucky, Donald Trump escaped the shooting at the weekend with just a bandaged ear. And so the memes ran free… |  | cants @cantseyy |  |
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When you order a pillow on temu |  | | | 8:37 AM • Jul 16, 2024 | | | | | | 403K Likes 41.1K Retweets | 2.15K Replies |
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|  | Anonymous TV 🇺🇦 @YourAnonTV | |
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Get the "Trump Bandage" for a dose of fun with your healing! With a bold image of Donald Trump, stand out from the crowd and make healing a little more entertaining! Get yours today and let the healing begin! ✌️🇺🇲 |  | | | 3:02 AM • Jul 16, 2024 | | | | | | 51 Likes 11 Retweets | 11 Replies |
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🌡️ GONE VIRAL | Masterstroke or cringe? | Joe Biden's campaign team quickly followed up on news of the US President catching Covid, with this one-two punch: |  | Joe Biden @JoeBiden | |
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I'm sick | | | 11:22 PM • Jul 17, 2024 | | | | | | 576K Likes 72.4K Retweets | 117K Replies |
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| | Joe Biden @JoeBiden | |
| | Replying to@JoeBiden | of Elon Musk and his rich buddies trying to buy this election. And if you agree, pitch in here. |  | secure.actblue.com/donate/social-…
I just gave to Joe Biden!
Show your support with a contribution. |
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| | | 11:24 PM • Jul 17, 2024 | | | | | | 211K Likes 15.7K Retweets | 16.8K Replies |
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| Some brands quickly latched onto the idea… | |
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👀 MY FAV READS | This is a good look at an important factor in how misinformation spreads online… |  | You're more likely to believe fake news shared by someone you barely know than by your best friend | "The strength of weak ties" applies to misinformation, too. |
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⏰ CHANGING TIMES | Not so long ago, it was all the rage for tech companies to change the gun emoji into a water pistol. It's far less violent in the context of most conversations that platforms would like to encourage. | But Elon Musk's X is all about the American style of 'freedom', which means guns. And so it's changed back to a real gun on the web, with apps set to follow… | The times they are a-changing. | |
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🤦 FAIL | Yikes. Elon Musk's Grok AI posted incorrect information, amplified unverified claims and failed to identify sarcasm as details of Trump shooting unfolded… | One headline wrongly said Vice President Kamala Harris was shot. | Another Grok headline read: "Actor 'Home Alone 2' Shot at Trump Rally?" I mean, it was true, but…. 🙄 |  | Elon Musk Wants His AI Bot to Deliver the News. It Is Struggling With the Job |
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👔 YOU'RE HIRED! | Social media jobs available now: | | |
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🪦 RIP | Social media features heading for the graveyard: | Google has been trying to make Search a little more social lately. Looks like it might not have worked out…. |  | Google Search ending 'Notes' experiment | Back in November, Google Search Labs launched a Notes experiment and it's now coming to an end with the feature ultimately not launching... |
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| Also: | |
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👌 PRO TIPS |  | 150+ Social Media Power Words to Drive More Clicks and Conversions |
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🤖 SOCIAL A.I. | All the ways A.I. is transforming social media: |  | Meta's Testing AI Comment Summaries on Facebook | Meta's got another way to get you using its AI features, whether you like them or not. |
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📊 SOCIAL STATS | 3.5 billion | – The number of views Euro 2024 teams' TikTok accounts generated throughout the tournament | The most watched video from a news publisher on TikTok during the 2024 UK general election was from the Daily Mail, garnering 5.3 million views TikTok Shop's annual gross merchandise value (GMV) in Southeast Asia alone reportedly quadrupled from $4.4 billion in 2022 to $16.3 billion in 2023 Big Pharma's use of X/Twitter has now dropped to 9% of its potential, representing a steep slide from 32% since 2018. The number of 20-plus minute-long videos creators around the world are uploading to YouTube each month has increased from 1.3 million in July 2022 to 8.5 million in June 2024. An influencer boxing event set a new Twitch record with 3.85 million concurrent viewers, while the platform reached 6.74 million concurrent viewers sitewide MrBeast now has more than 300 million YouTube Subscribers The most popular new emoji is the 🙂↔️ Head Shaking Horizontally
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 | MORE META NEWS |
|  | Meta explores stake in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica | Facebook owner considers multibillion investment in European eyewear group to expand smart glasses partnership |
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| The latest Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses have outsold the previous version. [Reuters $$$] Facebook ads have been found promoting malware-laden fake Windows themes. [TechTimes] Latin America's lack of robust data protection laws means artists there can't opt out of Meta' training its AI on their Instagram posts. [Rest of World] Meta has expanded its Verified subscription for businesses to India. [afaqs] A Brazilian Instagram influencer has been jailed for trafficking and slavery. [BBC News] Meta banning news in Australia would be 'catastrophic', publishers have warned. [Press Gazette]
| New features and tests: | Facebook: | Facebook now lets you pin comments in Reels. [@oncescuradu] Facebook now has an advanced Stars challenge. [@jonahmanzano] Facebook has updated the look of the Weekly Challenge feature. [@jonahmanzano]
| Instagram: | Instagram can now tell you if your content has been moved lower in your followers feeds. [@theahmedghanem] Instagram is still working on its Group Stories feature. [@AVarma2006] Instagram now has an 'Add to Channel' option for sharing a Reel. [@jonahmanzano] Instagram now lets youcrosspost from your broadcast channel to your Facebook broadcast channel. [@theahmedghanem] Broadcast channels on Instagram now have their own milestones. [@theahmedghanem] Instagram is working on a custom Note colour to promote Charli XCX's new album. [@alex193a] Instagram has been spotted displaying the DMs button in the middle of the bottom nav bar. [@jasmine_enberg]
| WhatsApp: | WhatsApp's upcoming live translation feature might use its own tech, rather than Google's, as was previously reported. [Android Authority] WhatsApp is testing a new look for status updates on Android. [Android Central]
| The rest: Creator Studio / Adtech / Quest and more: | |
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 | MORE X NEWS |
|  | Elon Musk's X may succeed in blocking Calif. content moderation law on appeal | Elon Musk's X previously failed to block the law on First Amendment grounds. |
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 | MORE TIKTOK NEWS |
|  | Exclusive: TikTok glitch allows Shop to appear to users under 18, despite adults-only policy | The tests indicate there are loopholes in TikTok's ability to apply its parental controls and policies effectively in a situation where the teen user originally lied about their age, as many likely do. |
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| | New features and tests: | CapCut on Android now lets you paste a TikTok link for audio you may want to use for a video. [@yassermasood] TikTok now asks you to use Ads Manager to unlock better results and more features. [@theahmedghanem]
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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES |  | Signal downplays encryption key flaw, fixes it after X drama | Signal is finally tightening its desktop client's security by changing how it stores plain text encryption keys for the data store after downplaying the issue since 2018. |
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📰 WEEKEND READS | Geekout's pick of the best longer reads to sink into over the weekend: |  | She spent her inheritance sending money to TikTok Livestreamers. What started as a game turned into addiction. | Cindi White spent more than $25,000 on TikTok Influencers. TikTok's Live Matches have a dark side. |
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😳 AND FINALLY… | Doomscrolling is bad for your health. So why not start the weekend by giving it up, eh? |  | Doomscrolling linked to existential anxiety, distrust, suspicion and despair, study finds |
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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK… | … And that's EVERYTHING new in social this week. ✅ | For those of you who are OG / hardcore Geekout readers that read this bit of the newsletter… | And have read my updates here over the last couple of weeks…
I went out on date night 2. And 3. I think I've found my person. ❤️ | We are pretty much inseparable right now. I honestly can't believe my luck. | Sarah is amazing. And for some strange reason, she feels the same about me. 😍 | After 2.5 long years of Tinder-ing and Bumble-ing, I have deleted the apps. I think 2024 is going to be a very good year for me. | On that soppy, icky end note… | I'm heading off to make sure my son gets the good pain meds at the hospital. Or steal his stash if they're the really good ones 💊🤫 | Goodbye, geeks! | | p.s. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant |
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