Here’s what happened when we asked Google AI and Meta AI how many bots are on YouTube and Instagram

I’m paying off the debts of the first 5 people who can tell me how many bot accounts are crawling all over your favorite social media platforms. 

From fake followers to spam comments to inflated video views, you can’t participate in any social activity without encountering the seedy world of bot accounts. But what happens when you pit them against each other and attempt to find out exactly how many exist? Chaos. Just kidding, but Pennant’s Director of Paid Media – Brendan O'Brien – decided to do a little experiment and the results are filled with spammy insights. 

[extreme Nathan Fielder voice] The plan? Ask Google’s AI how many bot accounts exist on YouTube and Instagram, and then ask Meta’s AI the same questions. Unsurprisingly, Google is quick to throw Instagram under the bus and provide an actual number of fakes (95 million, which they’ll tell you translates to 9.5% of the platform’s total users), but then play coy about the number on YouTube. Google nicely pivots away from data and shares some tips on how to identify bots instead.

Meta follows the same playbook. They conveniently can’t find the ‘exact number of bot accounts on Instagram,’ but when asked how many exist on YouTube, Meta is quick to point to some datapoints from 2022 when “YouTube announced it had removed over 5.4 billion accounts for violating its community guidelines or terms of service, with a significant portion of those being bot accounts.”

If you want Brendan to start a series where he asks Google and Meta the same questions, please like and subscribe. We’ll leave you with this perfect compilation video of the best bot comments. 

ICYMI:

• Instagram is bringing back Tamagotchis. Kind of: IG is working on a new feature called Instagram Pals. The new sticker involves a digital pet that will grow and change based on how many people interact with your stories.
• TikTok is creating its own version of Google Image Search, which will enable users to upload a photo to find similar products in TikTok Shop.
• Take notes: YouTube is testing a notes feature that will allow users to add their own information and context under videos, similar to Community Notes on X. 
• Now we’re talking, Threads: You can now share single image and carousel posts from Instagram as full-size images on Threads as opposed to a thumbnail and link.

LIKE//RETWEET//SHARE//ETC

The girls with a passion for fashion can also jam on Instagram. Sorry. Don’t stop reading because of that line. 

Bratz dolls burst onto the scene in 2001, and while I sadly was too old for the phenomenon, I am just the right amount of elderly to fully appreciate what they’re pulling off on IG — (and yes, their TikTok account is worth its own deep dive in the future). 

It is not easy to take a brand that was at the height of its popularity before social media existed and translate the same look, feel, and emotional connection in a digital way, but they’ve done it masterfully. Bratz has flawlessly thread the needle between catering to its existing millennial audience while also attracting an entirely new audience of young Gen Zers. So unleash your inner Bratz and bow down to the girls in this week’s breakdown:

• Chappell. Roan. The megastar’s meteoric rise is taking over every nook and cranny of the Internet, so of course Bratz took advantage of the opportunity by capturing her iconic look from Gov Ball. 
• Bratz is consistently entertainment first, product second. When they conceive of a post they are thinking about what is going to drum up the most chatter, not what is going to drum up the most sales. 
• Part of weaving their older audience with their younger audience is staying true to Bratz’s original mission of celebrating and supporting strong women who carve their own path via stars who are relevant in 2024. Their Met Gala recreations and Sabrina Carpenter posts are further proof of this strategy. 
• With every post, Bratz positions themselves at the forefront of Internet culture by creating highly-shareable moments out of trending topics. And the best part? They’re timely but not rushed. The Chappell post came 3 days after her performance, signifying they know how to join a conversation but more importantly, how to keep it going as well. 
• Part of what makes every post so fun is the comments. This is a testament to the following Bratz has racked up and the tight community they’ve fostered. From MTV to Betsey Johnson to Chappell herself, every post brings out the best in commenters and it ends up feeling like one big, adoring group chat.

Make it work for you: First things first, go back in time and create an iconic doll and media franchise in the early 2000s. After you’re done with that, truly study your audience – who they are, what resonates with them, and what content they’re consuming to help build out your strategy. 

The U.S. Open? More like U.S. Open the emotional floodgates. Pinehurst Resort woke up on Sunday morning and chose to wreck us. 

Putting a different spin on your traditional Father’s Day content, they placed phones around hole No. 2 for people to leave messages for their dads. And the end result was just as touching as it sounds. Here’s how they pulled off the hole-in-one post:

• Because Pinehurst hosted this year’s edition of the U.S. Open, the resort understood each piece of content they produced would be consumed by more eyeballs than normal, so they went the extra mile with this one.
• It was a lovely departure from highlights, scenes from around the course, and standout moments from the tournament. It was a shift in content and tone, yet it still fit Pinehurst overall.  
• The resort managed to pleasantly surprise their followers (and non-followers that they reached), resulting in the majority of the comments lamenting the fact that they were sobbing before 10 a.m., and they had no one to blame but a golf course.

• Can we take a moment and appreciate what a cool idea it was in the first place? The use of the old school phone invoked nostalgia off the bat, and from there, they let real people do all the heartwarming work. 
• Golf has very strong dad vibes, so this was the perfect tie-in for Father’s Day. It gave people an outlet to reminiscence, show their gratitude, and share their tributes, and even better, all of that extended to the comment sections.

Make it work for you: This was an A+ example of letting the video do all of the heavy lifting. Pinehurst kept the copy simple and they didn’t bother with subtitles or any text over the content either, which only made the emotional impact that much greater. If you have excellent media, sometimes you’re better off letting it speak for itself.

POST OF THE WEEK: 

If I owned this shirt, it would be the only shirt I wear.

(via x/@lamornemorris)