In summer 2022, my first ever proper tweet went viral. Around 250k people saw it β 350 left heartfelt and encouraging replies and messages, and 700 gave me their "yes, I'm staying for your content" follow.
It was the first time something I shared reached so many people, let alone received such warm welcome from long-time and newbie creators alike. You can imagine, I was in awe.
(Context: The tweet was about turning my lurker mode off and joining other creators to have fun with their business and ideas online. Here's my little story.)
"This is it! I made it." I felt like a winner. Even more, I felt like a new girl at school who invited a bunch of people to the party yet a whole school showed up.
And if you remember all the 2000s teen romcoms, it doesn't usually end well.
Day 1: Endless fun. At that time, my husband and a couple of his friends had been on Twitter for 3 months and dreamed of bigger reach for their content. Jokingly, I promised them a course on how to gain your first thousand followers with 1 tweet.
Day 2: My favourite creator, Christina Garnett, followed me back. I got my first hater.
Day 3: Confident, I'm putting out more content. My inbox is still blowing up β I made a promise that I would repay the kindness and reply to each person. I explained to my cousin the difference between Twitter and TikTok, and why her cousin is now cool. I tell myself, you lucked out but now it's the time to ride the wave.
Days 4-7: Whatever I share β my content is flopping. "Wait, should I share the story on how I work with my client? No, I'm supposed to give them value, something useful. Okay, threads seem to go viral but I hate writing listicles. Maybe I should still do it for 30 days and then start doing what I want. Deal."
Days 8-14: I hate it. Literally no one replies. And I just want to have a break. I send my husband my tweets and ask for feedback β to make them more appealing to the audience. There's a 2-hour block in my calendar to engage with people. I robotically open some tweets on my feed and come up with a likeable and smart reply. My brain hurts.
Day 15: Fuck it. Maybe I need to rethink it and come back later.
I got overwhelmed β and hid in my proverbial closet for two weeks.
(Writing it all, I see my insecurity. I don't deny it. My worry got the best of me at the time when luck & randomness β but especially lots of good people! β helped me become visible.)
Because all I could see was that the people β that whole school that went to my party β were watching, so I had to perform. I had to dance to the beat of the song they put on while overthinking my moves.
(Of course, it's not on these people but on me; I put the pressure of expectations on myself to be a certain way, to sound a certain way at the expense of my voice and well-being.)
Going viral on socials is an incredible amplifier to your voice β especially when your voice is unapologetically loud and clear, and most importantly, yours.
It's the next act to the party you own and enjoy. And that's what it needs to go on β for you to own your voice, your personality, your stories, and have fun.
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