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Hello, geeks! | Welcome to your (almost) 100% human-written edition of Geekout. | Unlike most LinkedIn posts!. More on that in a moment. | Before we get into it… | This 2025 Social Media Trends report is solid and worth downloading now. | Side note: Check out the end of this week's Geekout… I need your urgent advice on something 😱 | __________ | LinkedIn's AI Slopfest 🤖 | According to a new report, nearly half of viral LinkedIn posts are probably AI-generated. | Social media managers surprised: 0 | Sure, fully AI-generated posts are still pretty easy to spot (and, let's face it, pure slop). But what really grinds my gears? The flood of cringe-worthy, robotic AI comments on my posts. They're not just pointless—they're painful. | And yet, LinkedIn's algorithm—or its users—seem to love them, encouraging so-called "LinkedIn thought leaders" to churn out even more of this nonsense. | So, what did I do? I embraced the chaos. This week, I posted my own "deep, insightful" thought-leadership gems—crafted entirely by AI. 😁 | | Even though I clearly disclosed the posts were AI-generated, many people didn't bother reading fully, used their own AI / automation tools to comment… or took the posts way too seriously. (Check out the comments on both posts here and here.) 😆 | The result? LinkedIn's algorithm boosted my post even further. | It's a stark reminder of what's coming in 2025: even more AI-generated junk cluttering our LinkedIn feeds. Buckle up. 😒 | P.S. Gen-AI was used to tidy up this intro today (i think i'm addicted to using it now). |
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10 Must-Know Social Media Trends for 2025 — Free Report! | | Feeling overwhelmed by the ever-changing social media landscape? | You're not alone. 😵💫 Even I struggle to keep up! | Don't stress, Sked Social's 2025 Trends Report has you covered. | This FREE report reveals the 10 biggest trends that will redefine social media in 2025, | Sneak peek: | 🌈 The Rise of Hopecore: Optimistic, feel-good content is winning hearts
👑 Micro-Influencers Dominate: They drive 60% higher engagement than big names
🤝 Authenticity Rules: 70% of consumers prefer natural brand interactions
🧑💼 Real Content Wins: 82% of audiences trust content featuring real people | You'll learn: | 🔑 The top 10 trends shaping social media in 2025
💬 How to master authentic brand engagement
📈 ROI-boosting strategies for next year
🌍 Emerging shifts in platform algorithm priorities | No fluff. Just actionable insights. And 100% free. Download the report now! 👌 [AD] | |
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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5 | Geekout's pick of the hottest headlines in social this week: |  | Australia passes world-first law banning under-16s from social media despite safety concerns | Bill passes amid warning that process has been rushed and that a ban could push teenagers towards the dark web or into isolation |
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| TikTok will block beauty filters for teens over mental health concerns [RESTRICTING] Reddit overtakes X and LinkedIn in UK's most popular social platforms report [ATTENTION-GRABBING] Mark Zuckerberg had dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago [INFLUENCING] Elon Musk admits X is throttling posts with links on the platform [CONTROLLING]
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🚨 EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT… | Is Australia's teen social ban the start of a trend? |  | Australian social media ban on under-16s approved by parliament |
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| So it's officially happening. Australia is banning under-16s from social media. | The law requires platforms to take "reasonable steps" to verify the age of users and prohibit those under 16 from opening accounts. | But that's not quite as draconian as it might sound. Messaging apps, gaming platforms, and services that provide educational content (including YouTube) are exempt. Also, kids aged 15 and under will still be able to access content on platforms such as Reddit and TikTok that is available without creating an account. | As you might expect, the social media platforms are NOT happy at losing a lucrative and impressionable audience to show ads to. | Meta has accused the Australian government of failing to consider young people's voices, while TikTok said the legislation was "rushed" and "unworkable," and riddled with "unanswered questions and unresolved concerns." | A big question mark hangs over how the law will be enforced. Google and Meta have argued that enforcement should be delayed until a trial of age-check tech is completed. But the law isn't going to come into force any time soon, anyway. It's expected to take at least a year to implement | While this law certainly is tougher than other countries, the wind might be blowing in Australia's direction. | France already has a minimum age of 15 for social media use and is pushing for EU-wide takeup of the law. | And while TikTok is opposed to the Australian law, it plans to block teenagers from beauty filters and tightens up systems to block under-13s from the platform as teen safety on social media becomes an ever more salient issue. | In the long run, younger teens being able to use whatever social media they like might be a thing of the past in countries around the world. |
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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY | Everything else you need to know from the past seven days… |
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Meta / Facebook 👥 |
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Instagram ✨ |
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Threads 🧵 / WhatsApp 💬 |
 | Threads new option to swipe between feeds from homescreen |
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YouTube 📺 |
 | YouTube's AI-powered Dream Screen feature for generating images for posts |
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TikTok 📱 |
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Bluesky 🦋 |
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Reddit / Snapchat / LinkedIn / CapCut… 👽 |
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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: | YouTube is upgrading its Inspiration Tab with AI-powered features ✨🪄 |  | YouTube's new AI-generated content ideas brainstorming tool |
| Also spotted this week: | |
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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 Times about why social media users are flocking to Bluesky over Threads | | Also from me this week: | |
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😆 LOL | Filed under #relatable. Thanks Josh! | | | Austrian Airlines nailed its exit from Elon Musk's X! | | We all know someone who does this… | | Also: | |
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📈 MEMES | This Chill Guy has been making (extremely chill) waves on TikTok and beyond. 🔥 | Check out the backstory to how Chill Guy went viral here. |  | Ray 💯 @RayTheYoung |  |
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Going to the movies by myself because I'm just a chill guy who enjoys the magic of cinema | |  | | | 9:55 PM • Nov 19, 2024 | | | | | | 158K Likes 24.4K Retweets | 332 Replies |
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|  | The Office Memes @OfficeMemes_ | |
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When you re-watch The Office for the 100th time instead of starting a new show because you're just a chill guy | |  | | | 1:44 AM • Nov 21, 2024 | | | | | | 6.8K Likes 1.37K Retweets | 17 Replies |
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|  | Everything Out Of Context @EverythingOOC | |
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| |  | | | 2:42 PM • Nov 24, 2024 | | | | | | 408K Likes 26.5K Retweets | 215 Replies |
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| Also worth checking out: | |
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🌡️ VIRAL | 'LOLCow' is a word making the rounds on TikTok right now, but is it modern bullying or just harmless fun? |  | Social media's 'LOLCow' obsession is curated cruelty |
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🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?! | "LinkedIn simply does not have content interesting and appealing to minors" | – LinkedIn claimed it's too boring for kids to be included in Australia's teen social media ban. It might be right TBF. | |
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🛠️ NEW TOOLS | If you used to love Nuzzel to help you find the best links being shared in your Twitter network, Sill is for you. 💯 | It does the exact same thing… But for Bluesky and Mastodon. I love it already 👌 |  | Sill's new app rounds up the best links from your Bluesky and Mastodon networks |
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👀 MY FAV READS | There's been a lot of talk about this influencer marketing lawsuit this week: ⚖️👩🏻⚖️ | "One Amazon influencer makes a living posting content from her beige home. But after she noticed another account hawking the same minimal aesthetic, a rivalry spiraled into a first-of-its-kind lawsuit. | "Can the legal system protect the vibe of a creator? And what if that vibe is basic?" | /cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25619376/247265_Amazon_influencers_in_court_LJames_00_62.jpg) | The influencer lawsuit that could change the industry |
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🪦 RIP | Social media features heading for the graveyard: | It's time to say goodbye to Foursquare… | But social location sharing app Swarm is not dead yet. 📍 |  | Foursquare to close, but Swarm game lives on | And the company is doing the right thing with its database |
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| Also heading to the social media graveyard shortly: | TikTok is killing its AI-mojis feature, but you can create a new AI avatar for your profile The Instagram for Business website is being merged into the Meta for Business website
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🤦 FAIL | It seems Meta Ai isn't any more reliable than Apple Intelligence when it comes to accurately summarising news: | | Also this week… | A weird WhatsApp bug is making messages go 'Oh' Bluesky: Chinese State Media is annoyed that it spent a long time building an influence network in the West on X, but Bluesky is a lot more difficult to game
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😮 WTF?! | X is trying to stop The Onion from buying Alex Jones' social media accounts…. |  | Elon Musk Says He Owns Everyone's Twitter Account in Bizarre Alex Jones Court Filing |
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| Also: | Influencers are using AI 'women' to lead people to OnlyFans and Fanvue — where more AI awaits Someone has already scraped Bluesky to make a dataset of users' posts to train AI on, even though Bluesky itself say it would never do this
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👔 YOU'RE HIRED! | Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week: | | |
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📈 CHARTED | Elon Musk's increase in Twitter/X activity over the years is insane… 🤯 | From Dec 2013 to the middle of 2018, Musk tweeted just over a dozen times a week, on average. | Between then and October 27 2022, when he acquired X, he was posting 50 times a week. | Since the takeover, that has risen to around 220 a week! | | |
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 | MORE META NEWS |
|  | Meta must face an investor lawsuit after the US Supreme Court dropped a case over the Cambridge Analytica scandal | The US Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Meta, leaving it to face a multibillion-dollar lawsuit that accuses the company of misleading shareholders about the data-harvesting scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. |
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| Meta is refusing to publicly disclose information that could determine whether it is subject to Canada's Online News Act despite blocking news from its platforms there. [CTV News] Meta is 'reckless' in 'need-to-know situations', Canada has warned Australia as it braces for an early bushfire season. [The Guardian] WhatsApp has gone to the top EU court to argue it should be able to challenge a ruling that led to a 225 million euro ($236 million) fine by Ireland's privacy watchdog. [Reuters $$$]
| New features and tests: | Instagram: | | Threads: | Threads now lets you block Fediverse accounts. [@jonahmanzano] Threads is testing a new way to start a thread from your profile, under the profile tabs. [@theahmedghanem]
| Messenger: | | WhatsApp: | WhatsApp is rolling out video notes more widely. [@jonahmanzano] WhatsApp now lets you discover and follow channels using QR codes. [@falsu_35] WhatsApp is testing the ability to open the reaction tray with a double-tap. [@WABetaInfo] WhatsApp looks nearly ready to launch an new 'typing' indicator on Android. [Android Police] WhatsApp Business is getting a dark mode. [@WABetaInfo] WhatsApp is testing letting you share sticker packs. [@WABetaInfo]
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 | MORE X NEWS |
|  | Elon Musk's Twitter backers gain windfall from xAI deal | Investors hit by losses following billionaire's takeover of social media platform reap rewards from shares in his AI start-up |
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 | MORE TIKTOK NEWS |
|  | Exclusive | TikTok Shop expands to Spain, Ireland amid global e-commerce push | The short-video app and its owner ByteDance is under pressure to search for new revenue sources amid slowing growth. |
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| A US federal appeals court is expected to rule by 6 December whether to uphold a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok by early next year or face a ban. [Reuters $$$] TikTok Shop UK is running its "Biggest Ever Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale". [TikTok Newsroom] TikTok has announced the global winners of its 2024 'Gimme The Mic' talent contest. [TikTok Newsroom]
| New features and tests: | |
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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES |  | Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and X Are Running Disruptive Promotions for Their Own Products | Social platforms are running some big in-stream promotions for their own products this year. |
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| Advertisers are stepping back from boycotts and other social media activity in the face of an impending Trump White House. [The Information $$$] Australia has dropped a plan to fine social media giants accused of enabling misinformation. [NBC News] Brands are being cautious about adopting Bluesky. [Digiday $$$] Creators are turning to subscription apps due to increasingly competitive, volatile content economy. [CNBC]
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📰 WEEKEND READS | Geekout's pick of the best longer reads to sink into over the weekend: |  | Can stan Twitter be recreated on Bluesky? Swifties think so. | Is stan Bluesky finally here? |
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😳 AND FINALLY… | Need a laugh to end your week? Bluesky is rapidly becoming a new hotspot for jokes. Here are some of the best of the week…. |  | 25 of the funniest posts we've seen on Bluesky this week |
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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK… | … And on that humorous note, you have reached the end of this week's Geekout. 👊 | But before you exit… I urgently need your advice! | Cringe Catwalk Conundrum | i'm speaking at Belgium's biggest marketing conference next week (Thurs 5th Dec) - BAM Marketing Congress 2024. | But worryingly, this is the key info for speakers the event organisers just sent me: 🫣 | | So… The question is: | | Reply to this email with you best (worst) suggestions, or drop them in the replies on this Thread. | Unless someone has a better idea, i'm going with either this: 🕺🏻 | | Or maybe this to confuse TF out of everyone 😁 | | My girlfriend Sarah has threatened to whip out her iPhone to capture the moment. | Seriously starting to regret signing up for this… And inviting her. 🤦🏻♂️ | Goodbye, geeks! | | p.s. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant |
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