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Hello, geeks! |
I finally made it back from Zante, Greece. But only just. |
A self-imposed seven-day social media ban was exactly what I needed. Sunshine, great food, and almost zero doomscrolling. Bliss. |
Sadly, I discovered you can leave social media, but social media cannot leave you. |
The word on the Zante streets (and TikTok), was that Harrison Sullivan, aka HSTikkyTokky, was in town causing chaos. |
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Watch now on TikTok |
@tikkytokky782 |
Hs in Zante👀🔥#kick #hstikkytokky #fyp #livestream #zante |
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Following his appearance in Louis Theroux’s Inside the Manosphere, the TikTok rage-baiter and professional misogynistic muppet has now achieved every rage-baiter’s dream: becoming famous for being absolutely unbearable.
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Women were fangirling. Men were idolising him. Humanity continues to surprise me. |
We bumped into him and his travelling army of bros on the Zante strip several times. |
The good news? From what we saw, and what his own team proudly clipped for TikTok, someone threw a drink over him nearly every night…. |
Not all heroes wear capes. Some carry blue WKD: 😂 |
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Watch now on TikTok |
@lyylclipz |
HS was ready to get active 😳 #hstikkytokky #zante #fyp |
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Annnnnway… After a week in the sun and several late nights desperately trying not to embarrass my 16-year-old daughter, getting home became an absolute nightmare. |
Our flight was cancelled at the last minute. Then, on our final day, we all caught a COVID-like virus and ended up feverish, exhausted and stranded in a temporary hotel in 35°C heat. Lovely stuff. 🤒 😠|
The perfect ending came when we finally boarded our replacement flight and the cabin crew played out their Jet2 ad: |
“Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday..!” The irony was not lost on me. |
Right… Let’s get into this week’s news, featuring: |
WhatsApp officially launching @usernames — But will it give scammers a new opportunity? Meta pushed out another new app — But will Pocket’s AI vibes be enough to sustain your attention Zuck’s AI problems continue — Despite the $billions Meta is burning through to keep up with rivals
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— Matt |
2 cool things… |
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TikTok US accused of political censorship under its new ownership [SILENCING] Meta rolls out ‘Pocket’, a new app with a social feed of vibe-coded mini games [APPETISING] Mark Zuckerberg admits the company’s AI drive is going slower than expected [STALLING] UK’s culture secretary and department quit X citing concerns over democracy [X-ITING]
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WhatsApp usernames: Yay! …or not?
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It feels like WhatsApp has been working on usernames for years. |
The feature could have done with being available for a long time already. Group chats can be really useful, but if it means sharing your phone number with a bunch of people you don’t know well, that’s a huge security worry for some people. |
FINALLY WhatsApp started the process of launching usernames this week, by letting you reserve your chosen handle. |
Handily, it’s connected up to Instagram so you can claim the username you already use there. |
But despite some thoughtful design around security (you can let anyone message you by username or create a PIN that trusted contacts can use to message you that way), WhatsApp usernames bring up their own concerns. |
Firstly, if you’re prolific on a non-Meta app with a certain username, but someone else has that handle on Instagram, there’s an opportunity for confusion or even impersonation. This is already causing a storm in some quarters, with high-profile people unable to register ‘their’ handle. |
Secondly, adding a username requires you to add WhatsApp to your Meta Accounts Centre. That means if someone somehow gained access to your Accounts Centre, they’d be able to access not just Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, but WhatsApp too. |
Given WhatsApp is FAR more important to the daily lives of many people around the world than the other Meta apps, this is a real security risk Meta will have to take incredibly seriously. |
So should you register the same username you have everywhere else to avoid impersonation, or the something different so you’re less findable? Should you register a username at all? |
These choices are yours, but at least go in with your eyes wide open to the risks and the opportunities. |
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Meta  / Facebook  |
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[Image: Meta] |
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Meta is giving its smart glasses exclusive features for Instagram Stories, like Spin View and Mulit-Cam Sync Meta’s prediction market app ‘Arena’ will reportedly target 19-to-34 year olds as it aims for 100 million monthly active users for the yet- to-be released product Meta reportedly plans to sell unused AI computing capacity to other companies. Shares of rivals in the space fell 12% on the news Meta wants to be shielded from potential Californian fines for design that is harmful to children Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang reportedly claims the company’s next AI model has caught up with OpenAI’s GPT-5.5
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Instagram  |
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[Image: Meta] |
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Threads  / WhatsApp  |
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[Image: Meta] |
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X / Twitter  |
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[Image: X] |
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X has launched Live Studio as a new command centre for livestream creators on the platform X poses “serious risk to Americans’ privacy,” advocates have warned the FTC as the the platform makes a bid for loosened restrictions X has been spotted displaying four or more images in a post as a carousel on desktop web X testing a new video dock button for smoother video and live stream minimisation on iOS
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TikTok  / YouTube  |
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[Image: TikTok] |
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TikTok now lets brands launch microdramas on the platform and then use automated targeting to attract the right viewers, with a new Mini Dramas feature TikTok joined YouTube in reaching a settlement with a Florida teen ahead of an imminent social media addiction trial, which will now be against Meta and Snap TikTok Shop is tightening its rules against fake reviews TikTok Shop has introduced a new gambling policy that bans lucky spins, raffles, sweepstakes, wheels, and casino-style games TikTok is turning Madonna’s new album launch into a global fan event TikTok and Food Network are teaming up for a live cooking series YouTube is bringing Mark Rober’s popular science experiments into US classrooms YouTube has added new Shorts features to mark the USA’s 250th birthday, alongside live fireworks, creator guides, and a commemorative ‘Yoodle’ YouTube is giving photo posts a more Instagram-like upgrade YouTube Primetime Channels feature in the US now includes Peacock
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Reddit  / Snapchat  / Discord  |
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[Image: Beehiiv AI] |
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Reddit is ending anonymous browsing on the old version of Reddit, and longtime users are not happy Reddit now lets all marketers run two ad versions while changing only one variable Reddit has launched a new ‘People are the Best’ campaign to celebrate real conversation over AI-sourced info Snap faces a lawsuit over claims its features enabled child grooming Snapchat has been spotted offering an option to mention another user when posting to Spotlight Twitch is developing Recaps, letting streamers share selected clips from recent broadcasts Twitch and SoundCloud have partnered for a day of live-streamed DJ sets alongside IRL events Discord is testing age verification with Incode age verification and Google Wallet ID Discord now runs natively on Meta Quest headsets
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Need some help with a tricky conversation? |
WhatsApp is testing a private ‘side chat’ with AI that can run alongside a regular conversation. |
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Credit: WABetaInfo |
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Also spotted this week… |
Meta is adding ridiculous ‘rate limits’ and a soft paywall to the AI features on its smart glasses Meta has launches an MCP server to help developers debug their apps with Claude, Cursor, Codex, and ChatGPT Meta AI chat insights are now available, giving parents a better understanding of what their teen asks Meta AI Meta has added suicide and self-harm alerts for teens using Meta AI on Instagram X now offers an MCP server to make its platform easier for AI tools to use YouTube now lets creators use AI to explore and manage comments on their videos LinkedIn has launched ‘Draft with AI’ that writes ad copy from a URL, campaign goal, or past creatives. TikTok has launched an app store for AI-powered advertising tools NotebookLM can now turn your research into TikTok-style clips Apple is giving Creator Studio a major AI-powered upgrade
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USA Today asked me about the very real risks of “harmless” AI clips resurrect Princess Diana on Instagram. |
AI videos place her with adult sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren she never met. |
One Instagram clip alone reached 2.8m views and 35,000+ likes. |
Creators call them tributes. Critics see grief, nostalgia and family pain turned into engagement bait.
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I also spoke to The Daily Influence about a crackdown on financial influencers in India. |
Indian regulator SEBI proposes classifying creators with 500,000 followers as celebrities for financial advertising.
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The first American Pope is also the first really meme-able Pope, it seems… |
As the New York Times explained: “Pope Leo XIV is the perfect vessel for 6-7 and other internet trends, where juxtaposition — and sparring with Trump — boosts virality.” |
He happily does 6-7 hands… |
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Pope Leo hits the viral “6 7” gesture while talking with children at the Vatican |
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…and then does them again… |
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Pope Leo does 6-7’ meme again |
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His stance against the race to build ever more powerful AI has also made him a hero on social media. |
His recent anti-AI essay went viral, and soon people were sharing quotes from it in a way no papal writings ever have before.
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Meanwhile, brands are picking up on Sony’s decision to stop selling physical versions of PlayStation games with their own takes on the announcement… |
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TikTok and FIFA sent 30 creator correspondents behind the scenes at matches… |
Some creators must publish five posts per game(!), covering training, press conferences, and pitch-side moments |
Brands are also using local micro-creators to sell host cities, tourism, and nearby culture |
While broadcasters show the match, creators sell the full experience. |
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Here’s a cautionary tale for brands looking to be a bit spicy. |
Bluesky took to rival Threads with an edgy little joke…
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…and it didn’t go as planned 🤦♂️
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More brand news and views: |
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"He doesn’t like kids coming up to him in airports with business cards that say ‘I’m CEO, bitch’ for him to sign." |
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| – Aaron Sorkin on why Jesse Eisenberg refused to return as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning |
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Also quoted this week: |
“When you have a question about the algorithm, I encourage you to replace the word 'algorithm' in your question with 'audience." |
- YouTube’s Todd Beaupré wants creators to view the algorithm as the perfect distillation of user intent, it would seem |
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“If you focus on empowering people and making people more productive and that happens at a faster rate than companies get better at automating things, then in theory there should be more jobs in the future, not less." |
- Mark Zuckerberg is all in on the idea of AI not taking everyone’s jobs (of course!) |
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Meta is rolling out a new app with a social feed of vibe-coded mini games. |
'Pocket' lets users create interactive posts called ‘Gizmos’ simply by typing a prompt. Gizmos can react to touch, phone movement, music, cameras and uploaded photos. |
The app was built after Meta hired the team behind the original Gizmo platform. |
Pocket is launching in selected regions only, for now. |
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Meta can read your mind and turn your thoughts into text… kind of. |
The company’s Brain2Qwerty v2 reads signals produced while someone types and predicts the words they intended. |
It achieved 61% word accuracy, compared with 8% for earlier non-invasive systems. The best participant reached 78% accuracy, with many sentences almost entirely correct |
The tech could someday help people who cannot speak communicate without brain surgery. |
But this isn’t a mind-reading machine. The tech needs lots of hospital equipment and cannot read random thoughts. |
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More WTF this week: |
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Google has killed its Tenor GIF API, forcing changes on some social platforms. |
The free API previously powered GIF search across X, Discord, WhatsApp and Bluesky. |
Tenor still works on its website and inside Google apps like Gboard and Messages. |
X has already migrated, while Discord, WhatsApp and Bluesky are testing alternatives including Klipy. |
Users may lose saved favourites and see a noticeably different GIF selection. |
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Instagram has published a new 2026 guide to maxxing-out Stories |
It covers everything from posting and scheduling to stickers, Highlights and Close Friends. |
The guide also spotlights Collage, which animates five or more photos using AI. AI Restyle can transform images into film looks, illustrations or custom text styles. |
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Also this week: |
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60%+ |
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More social stats: |
TEEN CULL: TikTok and YouTube deactivated a total of 4.7 million accounts run buy under-16s in Indonesia following a new online safety rules in the country UNSAFE: 50% of social platforms’ child safety tools failed basic testing UNWISE: More than 1 in 5 people make health decisions based on social media, despite widespread distrust
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Most Americans now support a teen social media ban, and the support is across all adult ages and political persuasions…
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Also charted this week: |
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Also spotted this week… |
The Australian eSafety chief singled out X particularly, while saying platforms are monetising gore and fringe content. [The Guardian] BBC correspondents have been told to put TikTok ahead of the flagship Today programme, as social and digital output begins to eclipse the importance of traditional broadcast media. [The Guardian] The US is offering $10m to identify hackers targeting Signal and WhatsApp users. [Ars Technica] Meta is reportedly restricting internal usage of Anthropic and OpenAI tools, amid worries their outputs will slip into Meta’s training data, causing ‘distillation’. [The Information $$$] Google has reportedly capped Meta’s use of Gemini as capacity is strained. [Financial Times $$$] The EU wants influencers to cover its summits — but only if they love the bloc. [Politico] The Irish High Court has told the country’s data protection regulator to reconsider TikTok’s China data-transfer ban. [TNW] Donald Trump has threatened harsh tariffs over EU digital taxes on US companies. Big tech companies like Meta would be affected by the taxes. [Social Media Today] The FBI has warned that Russian intelligence hackers have a new trick for reading your Signal messages on a compromised account, even after you change phones. [TNW] Pro-One Nation Facebook groups purporting to be based in Australia appear to be run by foreign ‘meme factories’ that monetise content. [The Guardian] Meta has appointed its first-ever chief data officer. [Axois]
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New features and tests: |
LinkedIn has renamed ‘Easy Apply’ to ‘LinkedIn Apply’. [@oncescuradu] YouTube Video Reach and Video View ad campaigns have received an upgrade. [Google Ads blog] WhatsApp now lets you register an iPad as your primary device. [WABetaInfo] Pinterest has launched a new Markets View to make international campaigns easier to manage. [Social Media Today] Riverside now lets creators run newsletters on the podcast-focused platform. [TechCrunch]
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“Good taste used to require context. Now it requires the right moodboard. Instagram made taste visible, algorithms made it repeatable, and AI made it scalable. |
“Welcome to the age of tasteslop, where originality may be the last status symbol left.” |
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Also worth a read: |
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Someone’s put YouTube on a Game Boy Color. And… it works! |
Modder Throaty Mumbo has built a custom cartridge that searches and streams YouTube videos. |
The tiny screen, limited controls and dreadful quality make viewing predictably painful. It’s less a practical product and more a gloriously unnecessary technical experiment. |
The upside: it might finally make YouTube unpleasant enough to stop scrolling. |
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That’s everything worth knowing about this week. |
I’m heading off to see if Zante’s police have done us all a solid and thrown HSTikkyTokky in jail yet. |
Any last words about HS, Louis?
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Nuff said. |
Goodbye, geeks! |
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P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant |
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