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Want to go viral on Twitter? š¦
I went viral this week. 1 thread. 6.7M views.
The thread-starter is the most important part. Thatās how you hook them.
And do it again and again. Thatās why I posted a database of 30 Twitter thread hooks for premium members.
Whatever topic youāre writing about, you can use these hooks as formulas to catch attention. Iāll be updating the database whenever I find cool new hooks.
In 2019, I was doing a lot of drugs.
And like someone who does a lot of drugs does, I did a lot of stupid embarrassing shit. All of this has been cleaned from the internet, but I still remember the feeling of shame like it was yesterday.
That shame is now my superpower.
This week, I went viral for writing a thread about standing in line for 90 minutes to eat steak-frites. My post has 6.7 million views. Many people thought the post was good, but many thought it was cringeāwhich was just fine by me. In fact, I was quite happy to be flamed on. Bring it on. More engagement for me.
See, no matter how cringe people thought this post was, it wasnāt as embarrassing as what I posted when I was using drugs. Like nowhere even close. Hint: my hair was a different color. Whatever insult youāre throwing at me, Iāve heard worse (and mostly because I was the one insulting myself after I sobered up and got a clear head).
So as this thread picked up heat and went viral and insults were coming in, I was laughing my ass off excited by the view count and my follower count rising. I felt zero shame, exclusively joy. People even photoshopped me into a meme (see below)! This was the funniest thing to ever happen to me: the guy who wrote a book about memes getting turned into a meme! Iām happy I posted the thread and Iād do it again in a heartbeat.
Original
Long John Silvers š
Pizza boy
EMBRACE THE CRINGE
See, I developed this motto a few months ago āembrace the cringeā.
Cringe is the new cool.
Writing online or making funny videos or whatever will always look ācringeā to some people no matter what you do. You can be the coolest person alive and some schmuck in Kansas will still call you ācringeā. I swear some loser wouldāve called James Dean ācringeā if it was an insult back in the 50s.
I believe ācringeā says more about the insulter than the insulted. Itās an insult meant to bring you down to the insulterās level. It just means the viewer did not like your work or did not get your workāwhich is fine. MrBeast is gonna be a billionaire and heās still ācringeā to some people. You think he gives a fuck if @bigdick37 calls him ācringeā? Yeah neither do I.
If you wanna do anything cool, you gotta risk being called cringe. Embrace the cringe. One manās cringe is another manās cool. As my old boss Greg Isenberg says, āTrying isnāt cringe. Cringe isnāt trying.ā If I wasnāt willing to look cringe to some people and write bangers online, I wouldāve never been able to quit my boring job or start a blog or get a book deal.
Not giving a fuck if you look cringe is a superpower for the great online game. Like Peter Parker getting bit by a spider, I had my superhero moment with the druggie days. And Iām glad it happened. But you donāt need to go down that path to realize this: internet embarrassment isnāt that bad. Stop living in fear of being called cringe. The fear is worse than it actually happening. You get over it. You learn to laugh about it. And it makes you stronger person and a better creator. (Also this Tyler, the Creator tweet is kinda accurate tbh, itās just some people talking shit on the internet).
Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Cyber Bullying Real Hahahaha Nigga Just Walk Away From The Screen Like Nigga Close Your Eyes Haha
— T (@tylerthecreator)
Dec 31, 2012
When youāre willing to look cringe, a whole world of opportunity opens up. You realize you canāt please everyone so you stop trying. You just focus on winning your game. If youāre trying to make in on the internet, youāre playing a different game than 99% of peopleāso stop trying to play their game. When you focus on your game 100%, youāre free to be yourself.
PLAY YOUR GAME.
My game is to post bangers and grow my following.
My game isnāt to impress everyone and it sure as hell isnāt to make everyone like me. Iāve been making enemies since kindergarten and Iāll keep doing it til I dieāenemies, haters, and trolls are a sign youāre doing something cool.
My goal isnāt to be the most popular or most liked or most desired man on the internet. My game is to post bangers and grow my following. With 1 post that I wrote in 10 minutes in an Uber, I got 6.7M views, 500 new followers, 30+ newsletter subscribers, and got turned into a meme!!! I won my game that night. And Imma stay winning because Iām playing my own game.
See Iām playing a long term game.
Even if I ālostā on this oneāwhich I didnātā, itāll be forgotten by next week. Iāll post another banger thread and another one and another one. No one will give a fuck about the steak-frites thread in a day. And Iām doing this writing thing for the rest of my life.
Personally, I prefer being the gladiator who gets shit thrown at him rather than being a fan on the sidelines. Iād take it every single day. I couldnāt just sit on the sidelines, Iād rather take the shit-throwing if that means I get to play.
Goddamn I love the great online game.
P.S. Hell, Iām at the point where the booing and shit-throwing gets me hyped up like a baseball team at an away game. Call me cringe, call me whatever, I donāt care, Iām the one out here playing while youāre on the sidelines.
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Cool Shit Corner
3 things to help you make more cool shit:
š¦ āEverything around you was built by people who didnāt know how to build it at first.ā See my full tweet for more.
š I saw some Warhol paintings IRL in Paris, which made me think about The Philosophy of Andy Warhol! Weird book, š„ quotes.
š® I used Midjourney to make todayās cover photo which Iām very proud of! The trick was to upload a photo of myself first to use as the base.
Thanks for reading nerds.
Create some cool shit this week.
Jason Levin
P.S. Want to really upgrade your content strategy?
š Check out my book on meme marketing Memes Make Millions
š If you want 1:1 advice on your content strategy, book a call with me.
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