Design Kitchen

The last month has been a really interesting and exciting month on X.

A fun kind of viral

Important to note that I had a post go a little bit viral which brought in over 1000 followers over night! This was for sure the largest growth spurt I have ever experienced. Then the following week I let my X premium expire and had a really strong example as to how X premium really does facilitate growth as all of my numbers tanked in spite of consistent posting.

So what happened?

Since there is clearly more to it than simply having X premium, I thought I would jot down my strategy, which is really just more of a way to approach the app, rather than a real bonafide strategy.

How I got 1.5 million impressions this month on X

1. Have X premium.
   I have not seen anyone do well without it. Perhaps it’s possible, but I haven’t seen it. This would for sure be my first suggestion.
2. Reply more than I post.
   I see people who post 10-15 times a day and most of their posts only have >100 views. This is a waste of time imo, unless you enjoy using your feed as a diary. You will get farther  in your X growth spending that time supporting others. For every post I make I probably reply to 20+ posts. Realistically it’s probably more like 50+. This is the social aspect of this app.
3. Reposts make up about 20% of my feed.
   I repost the content that I like that is posted by the people that I would like to see repost my stuff. Then I never ask them to repost stuff. Asking people to repost is cringe. And posting stuff you don’t genuinely care about comes off disingenuous. Still, reposting is very important. This will show that you have interests outside of yourself, and that you are capable of supporting other people. X isn’t instagram, and I don’t approach it like I am collecting followers. Instead I like to focus on making connections. (Without the little let’s connect dude. He needs to have a nap.)
4. Make original content.
   On the flip side, if your feed is entirely reposted content there is almost no incentive to follow you if you’re just recycling other peoples work. Most of the time I’ll scroll through someone’s feed and if all they do is repost stuff I find I’ll end up following someone that they reposted. This is not good for the OP, obviously, but I don’t see much point in following someone who has no original thoughts or ideas.
5. Be nice, but don’t take abuse.
   There are so many really great people on the internet that are worth being kind to, but trolls do exist. The best way to handle trolls is to first determine if it might be a bot. According to cyber security experts nearly half of all internet traffic are bots, many planted specifically for engagement baiting. If it’s a bot, simply block it. This will improve your experience with bots. If it’s a person, I typically reply and let them know their comment isn’t appreciated. But beware that these comments should be filtered for brevity. Do not waste more than a sentence or 2 on a troll.
6. Build in public.
   This means putting yourself out there and being capable of receiving feedback which might not be positive. This can be hard for some people. I find I am better at taking feedback on my tech stuff that I am my food/recipes. Probably because I have been cooking for 20 years and taking feedback from someone who struggles to make toast is a difficult thing to do once you’ve reached that level of experience. So I can see why sr devs have a hard time taking feedback. Still, if you want to grow, it’s important to do.

Still not enough!

Still, in spite of the successful month I have had, I am still pretty far from the 5 million needed to be monetized, so I won’t hold my breath on that. But I do intend to continue following this strategy and will report back if I am able to get monetized.

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