Interview · moment 11 of 23
Twitter, Algorithms, and the George Zimmerman Joke
from Behind the Youtube (with Joe Santagato) · #52
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
They riff on Twitter virality being random (sweet potato fries getting more retweets than crafted political jokes), Facebook's video algorithm boosting Joe's early growth, and a bit about Joe's 'Uncle George' being George Zimmerman.
- 37:24Snapchat messages disappear, so people are braver there, but the NSA has them anyway.
- 37:47Tim's fan base has completely changed and skews much older now.
- 38:37Tim would upload videos directly to Facebook after quitting Elite Daily because the algorithm pushed them harder than YouTube.
- 39:00Younger audiences skip Facebook entirely and go straight to Twitter, some never having had Facebook.
- 39:16Tim prefers Facebook and Instagram, tweets only once a week for promotion, and doesn't feel funny compressed into 140 characters.
- 39:44A tweet about liking sweet potato fries gets 5,000 retweets while other comics spend hours crafting political jokes that barely land.
- 40:14The algorithm fascinates him: someone sees he likes sweet potatoes and retweets it just because they also like sweet potatoes.
- 40:49Tim could tweet an inside joke with friends that has nothing to do with anything, and strangers will retweet it without understanding.
- 41:14His unemployed aunt woke him up ranting about the 25th Amendment removing Trump from office.