How I became a successful meme account and the benefits it has provided

Originally published on ClickUp

You probably looked at the title and you were like, "huh, this guy calls himself successful?"

Yes, when it comes to memeing, I can beat Elon Musk at this game.

Let's jump straight into it. I have had several people approach me, mostly those who admire my work on Twitter. Most of their questions were:

• How did you manage to get quite a number of followers?
• How do you manage to get those banger memes?
• Are there any benefits to doing this?
• Can I have your account when you die?

I then decided, why not write something to answer all the questions and then share it with everyone? In this write-up, I will mainly focus on how I have managed to build my Twitter account and the surprising benefits it has provided.

How did you manage to get quite a number of followers?

Running a meme account on Twitter is not really different from running any other account. You just need to understand the following (not really a standard, but that's what I do and what has worked for me):

1. Admiring others in the game/role model(s)

When I started using Twitter, there were a few accounts that I looked up to, both tech accounts and non-tech accounts. One of the accounts I admired was markdalgleish (who used to post memes). The trick is not just to admire your favorite accounts; notice how they do it; comment; plug your own unfunny tweets in the comment section to get noticed by others (it's low but well it works). Commenting in context with the tweet helps you to get noticed by people who are fans of the tweet author or topic as well as the tweet author. This will probably help you get followed by people who have the same interests as you and most likely the tweet author (yeah, that's the prize you get for being a top fan).

That being said, if you want to be a fellow memer, you know who to idolize.

2. Tricking the Algorithm

Tricking the Twitter algorithm increases your chances of coming up with a banger (Also answers the second question on how to come up with banger tweets). You need to play some games with the Twitter algorithm, that is, know when to post and what to post. In terms of knowing when to post, it depends on your time zone and your audience. Take note of your audience and when they are likely to be active. If you post when the guy who likes your tweets for no reason is asleep, your post will disappear into a sinkhole. Remember, going viral starts with one click, and going viral gives you new followers.

In terms of what to post, you need to pay attention to the trends. Don't post about Linux when Windows is trending, unless of course you are bashing Linux, but remember to include the keyword Windows (be creative). I remember posting the following tweet when Facebook changed its name to Meta.

3. Keep it simple

Don't go too deep. Most of us on Twitter are not that smart and are not slacking off at work to hear you shout about quantum physics.

As a developer, do you breathe while coding?

4. Consistency

What has helped me a lot is being consistent. I post memes and only memes. As a result, the people who follow me do it for the memes, and they will end up staying for the memes. If you post vegan tips today and then post a steak tomorrow, you will scare your audience. Take note that my account posts mostly about technology, and it's very important for me to stick to the topic of technology, as my audience is likely to be a bunch of geeks, nerds, and printer fixers who are not familiar with football. Posting memes about Lionel Messi will probably scare the majority of them. While going viral gives you new followers, being consistent keeps the followers.

How do you manage to get banger memes?

1. Trick the algorithm.
2. Be creative.
3. Understand your audience and post when they are active and post what they like the most.
4. Use a trending meme template (for example, when Squid Game was trending).

Are there any benefits to doing this?

I post memes for fun, but I get a lot of opportunities that I actually never thought someone who just posts images and videos captioned with silly text would ever get. Some of the opportunities include:

1. Job opportunities

You are probably thinking of job opportunities to post memes while sitting on a rotating chair somewhere, but no, these are actually opportunities to do with my career, especially software development opportunities. I am not sure how this works, but hey, iris wat iris

1. Marketing

When it comes to marketing, memers are highly demanded. I get a lot of opportunities to promote different products for several companies (especially startups). There is a high chance you once liked a meme that was part of a promotion and did not even notice it. Usually, with most of these, the company running the promotion gets to post it on their page. Memers just handle the memeing.

Can I have your account when you die?