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| Hello, geeks! | I can finally relax this week. | I spent most of last weekend stressed and anxious about my TV appearance in Channel 4's new 'Battle of the Brands' documentary. | | The first of four episodes was broadcast on Tuesday night in the UK. It focussed on Nando's vs. KFC. | I knew they had a lot of footage of me, after spending a full day filming in London last summer. | When I got the call from a producer asking if I would like to be part of the documentary, my imposter syndrome went into overdrive. | I spent several days almost talking myself out of doing it. | But fast forward a month later, and I found myself under studio lighting, in front of two cameras, with three researchers firing endless questions at me. | It was pretty intense and intimidating. My internal monologue kept repeating "Are you sure you're the right person for this? | But I'm really pleased that I hit my "f**k it!" button, and agreed to do it. | I watched the first episode with my kids at home on the sofa. Even though I'm my own biggest critic, I felt I did a good job. | Skip to 40 seconds in to spot me in this clip 👇👀 | | They used way more of my interview than I expected, including using clips of me to tease the next segment of the episode before going to an ad break. And episode ended with a soundbite from me. | Next time you're invited to do something that scares the hell out of you professionally… Hit your own "f**k it" button. | You might just surprise yourself. | __________ | Geekout Q&A with Instagram Edits Exec | | Ever wanted to ask an Instagram product manager a question? | Here's your chance. | Later this month, I will be chatting to Matt Simari, Director of Product Management for the Edits app. | What would you like me to ask him? Reply to this email with your questions. | The FIVE best questions will WIN an swag bundle from Instagram. | __________ | 1 cool thing… | |
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| | | Elon Musk testified in court over his Twitter deal tweets [SCRUTINIZING] Meta to let rival AI chatbots onto WhatsApp in Europe for 12 months to ease antitrust heat [COMPROMISING] X flooded with disinformation after US and Israeli strikes on Iran [REALITY-BENDING] UK government begins consultation on social media ban for under-16s [RESEARCHING]
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Creepy behaviour could kill Meta's chances of a hardware hit
| | Meta's smart glasses have all the makings of a breakout hit. By offering everyday useful functionality in a convenient form factor, they could become a far bigger business than VR headsets for the company. | It's increasingly common to spot the glasses when you're out and about, and at least from my observations, they seem to have appeal beyond geeks and early adopters. | But an investigation by Swedish journalists has unveiled something that might put you off: 'data annotators' in Kenya work to train Meta's AI by helping it understand what users are looking at. | It's unclear what is shared with these annotators, but they say they've seen everything from naked bodies to people going to the toilet 😳 | As the BBC explained: | "According to Meta, filtering could include blurring faces in images - but sources who spoke to [Swedish newspapers] said sometimes this failed and peoples faces could be seen. | "Users have to activate recording manually or through a voice command, but may not realise their videos and images are sometimes reviewed by humans - as described within Meta's extensive privacy policies and terms of service." | Meta already faces a data protection investigation in the UK and a lawsuit in the USA over the news. I expect more will follow. | This comes after the recent news that Meta is considering adding face recognition to some of its smart glasses in the future. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should! | Wearable cameras connected to the internet have the potential to get creepy, fast. When that creepiness is enabled (or even carried out!) by the company that makes the hardware, it's even worse. | Meta is going to have to tread carefully, or its potential big hit could become just another embarrassing bullet point in the company's long history of personal data controversies. |
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| | | Meta  / Facebook  |  | Meta's new ad performance measurement framework | Credit: Meta |
| Meta will soon only count ad link clicks toward click-through attribution for website and in-store conversions Internal Meta docs show staff warned about child grooming risks for years Meta is building tools to help retailers see if Facebook and Instagram ads lead to real product sales Meta's Oversight Board says AI's rapid expansion is overwhelming its slow, case-based review model. Meta says LLMs play almost no role in its core ranking and its $160B+ ads engine… yet Meta is forcing some ad accounts onto monthly invoicing Meta plans to develop custom chips to train its AI models Meta signs a multimillion dollar AI licensing deal with News Corp Meta is creating a new applied AI engineering organisation, led by Maher Saba, who is currently a VP of Meta's Reality Labs division Facebook added a new Drafts feature for Stories Facebook is testing 'Friends with Things in Common', which filters friends based on shared attributes like location, language, or workplace Facebook can now show lyrics on screen when sharing a music Note
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| | Instagram  |  | Instagram now lets you customise your profile grid | Credit: Instagram |
| Instagram finally launched the ability to customise your profile grid with edited thumbnails Instagram is rolling out features like insights, trending audio and scheduled content to all public accounts. Trial Reels, channels, and Live are unlocked if you hit 1,000 followers Instagram is getting closer to launch the "Add interests" feature for profiles Instagram started labelling Reels sent in DMs that were created using Edits Instagram appears to be testing a new layout for video search results Instagram is testing a new 'Secret Friends' list with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco Instagram merged Effects and Restyle for Stories into one Effects section Instagram introduced GIF support for Notes Instagram Edits added new + improved video effects, caption keyword highlighter, and a visually upgraded Ideas tab
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| | Threads  / WhatsApp  |  | WhatsApp now lets you join waitlist for its Premium Plan | Credit: WABetaInfo |
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| | X / Twitter  |  | X revamps Creator Subscriptions with Exclusive Threads feature | Credit: X |
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| | TikTok  / YouTube  |  | YouTube rolls out new 'Station' feature | Credit: Android Authority |
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| | | Meta is testing a shopping research feature within its AI chatbot for select US users | It's a direct challenge to Open AI's ChatGPT Shopping mode. | BUT… It's getting off to a rocky start | | __________ | Also spotted this week… | |
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| | | | | Zuckerberg takes issue with the word 'addictive' in deposition shown at landmark trial Instagram tracked the time users spent on its app, with company executives flagging "milestones" that its app reached year after year
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| | | | Hey brands! There's a reason you get influencers to show off your product rather than company executives… | Most execs are NOT great on social media. | Case in point: McDonald's CEO, and this awkward cringe-fest…. | | "It's a delicious product"… 😂 | The internet reacted as you'd expect: | | __________ | | __________ | | Find more reactions here. | McDonald's social team did the all they could to embrace the cringe. They leaned in, and posted through it… | | __________ | More viral news this week: | |
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| | Is AI slop GOOD for the performance of brand ads?! | A new study says…. sometimes, yes 🤨 | | __________ | More brand news and views: | |
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| | "It may not be my wisest tweet… I wouldn't necessarily describe it as incredibly stupid. But if it led to this trial, I guess I would qualify it as such." | | | | – Elon Musk in court, on the tweet that has led to a lawsuit accusing him of manipulating Twitter's stock price as he moved to buy the company |
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| __________ | Also quoted this week… | "Work never stopped on the deal" | - Elon Musk's financial adviser Jared Birchall testifies in court that Elon's "deal temporarily on hold" tweet as he moved to acquire Twitter was untrue | __________ | "The platforms would rather have a middle tier of creators, with 5 to 10 million followers — they would rather have that be enormous — than have a few people break through." | - MrBeast's former manager Reed Duchscher on why social superstars like MrBeast might be a thing of the past |
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| | TikTok creators are turning millions of Epstein files into a viral, crowdsourced investigation. | True-crime influencers, amateurs and professionals are building huge followings by breaking down documents. | Creators say they're filling a trust gap left by traditional media… | But experts warn AI-driven fakes will further distort an already chaotic information landscape. | |
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| | MrBeast has launched Vyro, a marketplace paying fans to clip long-form videos. | Users can earn about $3 per 1,000 views for posting clips to TikTok, Reels, Shorts. | A 100,000-view clip pays roughly $300, with no follower minimum required. Campaigns track views across TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts. | |
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| | Ewww. People actually watch this trash….?! | "Facebook is filling up with hundreds of AI clips depicting revolting miracles for millions of views a pop." | | __________ | More WTF this week: | |
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| | | | How to create Instagram content people want to share in DMs with friends: | | __________ | More pro tips: | |
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| | | __________ | More social stats: | WATCH THIS: TikTok ads drove a 172% jump in movie ticket purchase rates, new Samba data shows. SEARCHING: 49% of Americans Now Use TikTok as a Search Engine BIG IN THE EU: TikTok now has 178 million monthly users in the EU — up 8 million in six months BIG TIME: Instagram average daily usage grew from 40 minutes per day in 2023 to 46 minutes per day in 2026, according to evidence at the current LA social media trial SOCIAL BURNOUT: 46% of social media workers experience burnout symptoms, while 46% consider quitting their job due to stress
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| | Buffer analysed 52M+ posts across 10 platforms, revealing engagement patterns for 2026. | Instagram saw the biggest drop in engagement with a 26% drop. X saw the biggest jump in engagement with 44% growth. In terms of content formats, LinkedIn carousels dominate engagement, hitting 21.77% median engagement rates.
| Check out the Buffer's State of Social Media Engagement report for more 2026 insights. | | __________ | More charts: | |
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| | | __________ | Also in the news this week… | Activist investor Elliott has taken a $1B stake in Pinterest, betting on AI-driven growth. [TechCrunch] Variety unveiled its first "10 Creators to Watch", spotlighting rising digital stars. [Variety] Ofcom ruled a suicide forum is in provisional breach of the Online Safety Act for failing to block UK users and promoting ways to bypass restrictions. [The Guardian] 371 security and privacy academics are calling for a global pause on social media age checks. [Politico] Three months after Australia's 10 December 2025 under-16 ban, success remains unproven. [The Guardian] TikTok parent ByteDance is bringing its Meta Quest rivalling Pico headsets to the US. [Android Central] Apple has blocked US users from downloading ByteDance's Chinese apps. [Wired $$$] A founding member of xAI has described the "grind" to get the first Grok model out. [Business Insider $$$] Snapchat research shows the app plays a growing role in movie discovery. [Social Media Today] Pinterest and Amazon Influencers have teamed up on a new integration that allows select Pinterest creators to link their Amazon Storefronts to their profiles. [@lindseygamble_] MrBeast is hiring a 'head of TikTok', with the goal to make every post feel clearly "Beast" while boosting performance. [Business Insider $$$] A US federal judge has blocked Virginia's law limiting under-16s to one hour a day on social media. [Financial Times $$$] YouTube partnered with Rakuten to bring more shoppable videos to Japan. [TubeFilter] Fixated acquired Elevate as part of its mission to assemble "the Avengers" of the digital content space. [TubeFilter] Albania lifted its government-imposed ban on TikTok. [Economic Times]
| __________ | More updates and new features: | Meta introduced FrameSync to improve VR smoothness on Horizon OS. [Meta Horizon Developers] Facebook is rolling out an updated log-in UI on desktop. [@oncescuradu] X removed chat tabs from the main app and moved them into a contextual menu, creating more space in the inbox. [@theahmedghanem] X is following Threads by updating its in-app screenshots, replacing the Grok icon with the X icon when you take a screenshot within the app. [@theahmedghanem] X is working on a redesign of the reply and other options for posts on iOS. [@xDaily]
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| | "With misinformation spreading like wildfire, many people have placed their trust in reputable digital investigators. | "Organisations like The New York Times, Indicator, and Bellingcat have extensive verification procedures to avoid publishing synthetic or misleading content... | "Media authentication methods are rarely foolproof, but standards are extremely high, and experts have years of experience with evading fake news." | | _________ | Also worth checking out: | |
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| | Want a peek inside the Miami mansion Mark Zuckerberg just bought for $170 million? | Look no further. 👇 | He's surely only going to be there a few days a year, it feels like a waste to leave it empty. | Someone's got to look after it! I'll live in it for you for free, Zuck. Deal? | |
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| | That's everything you need to know this week, Geekout friends. | Before you head off to doomscroll somewhere else… | A big thanks for all your feedback on the Geekout glow-up. | I've already fixed a few bugs and tweaked the layout based on your suggestions. | Turns out you lot have strong opinions about spacing! | Next up: Reviewing new sections I could add — and possibly a few I should retire. | | Two quick questions for you: | ❌ 1. Which ONE Geekout Newsletter section do you always skip?
✅ 2. What NEW section could I add to make Geekout more useful? | Help me keep Geekout the most useful Friday scroll for top social media pros like you. | Goodbye, geeks! | | P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant |
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