Geekout Newsletter #3 - ⏰ TikTok, TikTok... BLOCK?

This week, Facebook and TikTok have selfishly hogged much of the spotlight, but both would probably rather it was someone else’s turn for a bit of media or political scrutiny. We will dig into the details below, but suffice to say, two of the world’s most popular social networks could do with a few friends right now.

To cut to the chase…

No… I don’t think TikTok will get banned in the U.S just yet.

Yes… Because Trump, it could well happen (in some form) in the near future

No…. Facebook’s civil rights audit (published this week) didn’t do Zuck any favours.

Yes… Facebook is going to have to do A LOT more to appease ad boycotters, and well, a lot of other people too!

But just before we get into all that, don’t forget to join The Social Media Geekout group on Facebook. You’ll love it. I promise.

And don’t miss the ‘And finally…’ in this week’s edition of Geekout. Social media managers: You’ll never have felt so seen :)

When I decided to start my own little newsletter, I thought a few hundred people may be as nerdy as me and subscribe. I can’t believe nearly 3,000 of you have now subscribed. Thank you. You’re awesome!

Please do keep forwarding this email on to friends, family, colleagues, or bosses you think would benefit from Geekout landing in their inbox every Friday. For free!

Right… It’s time to get you all up to speed on everything social media from this week.

Let’s do this 👇🤓

— Matt

This week showed just how much of a big deal TikTok has become, and just how at risk it could be in certain parts of the world.

News that the Trump administration may ban the app in the US, shows just how important it was for Chinese parent company ByteDance to install a US-based CEO for its hottest property in the West. TikTok is building up its lobbying muscle in DC and considering further measures to distance itself from China as it tries to avoid becoming the next Huawei — a company that bears the brunt of fears about giving China too much access to Western data. TikTok, of course, insists no Western data goes anywhere near China.

But whether you believe TikTok is a threat or not, there are alternatives waiting in the wings. Byte seems to have seen a rush of downloads this week in the US, and just as Instagram has rushed Reels into the Indian market following the TikTok ban there, it could easily do the same on home turf. And it’s easy to imagine Facebook’s lobbyists telling politicians that there’s an indisputably all-American alternative to TikTok ready to make sure fans of looping viral fun aren’t left in the lurch.

This all may be moot in the long run, though: it could be harder than you might think for the White House to completely ban TikTok.

If Facebook thought the boycott by advertisers this month would slink out of the headlines and be quietly forgotten, it was dead wrong. A report the company itself commissioned slammed its civil rights record, accusing it of “prioritizing free expression on its platform over nondiscrimination,” as the New York Times put it.

Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg admitted the company had “a long way to go” on civil rights. That’s one thing the organisers of the ad boycott would agree with them about. They were disappointed by their meeting with Mark Zuckerberg and other top execs this week, saying the company expected “an A for attendance” and was “more interested in dialogue than action.”

In that light, the fact that the Facebook Oversight Board, which is supposed to rule on contentious moderation decisions, won’t be up and running until “late fall” — likely after the US presidential election — seems all the more concerning.

This week, a Twitter job post that mentioned building a new subscription platform set tongues wagging, and Twitter’s stock price climbing. We don’t know anything about how it might operate, but some whispers suggest it might be a Patreon-type offering, perhaps connected to video, or perhaps something related to TweetDeck.

Would you sell access to your tweets for a monthly fee? Given that the potentially enormous reach of tweets is one benefit of the platform, even the biggest names on Twitter would have to think carefully about that question.

This might become your new favourite Instagram account…

Endless real-life (anonymous 🗣) confessions from social media managers.

Yup, it’s as good as you are imagining. 😮 😆👇

Want more? Head to @sippingsocialtea.

ANNNND…. We’re done! You are officially geeked-out.

As always… If you want to get in touch with me - ping me a DM on Twitter: @MattNavarra.

Also… Don’t forget to join The Social Media Geekout on Facebook where me and 16,000+ other social media pros hangout 😎

For now… Goodbye geeks! ❤️

This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.