We made it to May! For many of us, May Day weekend is a welcome breather and a chance to take a well-deserved rest from the daily grind of work. It is also the prime time to catch up on social media.
Even browsing our favourite social media platforms can be a fulfilling experience! As any marketer – or any creative type, really – will tell you, good artists borrow, but great artists steal. What this rather cheeky saying means is that it always pays to learn from others around us. After all, we live in a time where social media is everything – almost everyone’s on it. Understanding how different brands and people reach their audiences is key.
Here, then, is a lightning round of fifteen profiles that are worth your attention. All of these profiles boast different types of audiences – but what they do have in common is knowing how to make them engage with their posts. For your convenience, we grouped them by platform.
Without further ado, then, here are our picks for fifteen social media profiles worth following.
@darkpatterns – exposing bad user interfaces
I guess now you know why your parents computer is set up with Bing and MSN (2016). The power of pre-selected checkboxes. pic.twitter.com/LxEzhydFKk
— Dark Patterns (@darkpatterns) January 17, 2017
Dark Patterns is a Twitter profile dedicated to showcasing examples of one of the worst practices in modern web marketing – the eponymous “dark patterns”. These are unintuitive user interfaces that are designed to confuse and mislead users into clicking on newsletter subscriptions, special offers, et cetera.
The profile has garnered a loyal following of over fifteen thousand users who keep submitting new examples of dark patterns from around the web.
@ThingsWork – how literally everything works
This is how talking, breathing, and coughing compares, with and without a mask pic.twitter.com/Lk7PccWdID
— How Things Work (@ThingsWork) April 8, 2020
This profile is one of the most addicting we can find – the people running it are seemingly on a quest to explain how literally everything works. Ever wondered why surgeons wash their hands a certain way? How bats urinate? How mass affects spacetime? Everything’s fair game for @ThingsWork.
@Wendys – social media marketing done right
Here lies mediocrity. #EggRIPMuffin pic.twitter.com/fYxcn8LObe
— Wendy’s (@Wendys) February 28, 2020
The Wendy’s Twitter profile needs no introduction. Through their cutting remarks at their competition and meme-filled promotional campaigns, Wendy’s have captured the hearts of over three and a half million Twitter users – and the company knows just how to play to their expectations.
By foregoing all of the trappings of “traditional” web marketing, Wendy’s leaned into being authentic. They realised Twitter users hate nothing more than clueless suit-and-tie types who buy promoted posts and just spew out marketing into the void expecting engagement. There are many brands that fail to understand the point of Twitter – you can always tell them apart, as they have pitiful numbers of followers and almost no engagement.
Conversely, Wendy’s is a true example to learn from. Decent food, too!
@RealTimeWorldWarII – bite-sized history
French General Henri Giraud has escaped from a high-security German prisoner of war camp & slipped into southern France, after 2 years as highest-ranking French officer in captivity. pic.twitter.com/5dLPPG9ajD
— Live tweets from 1942 (@RealTimeWWII) April 26, 2020
Everyone loves a bit of history – especially if it’s served to us in tiny, easily-digestible chunks. Enter @RealTimeWorldWarII, which aims to tweet through World War II as it happened – minute by minute, hour by hour. Despite the original incarnation of the project having ended in 2017 (we’re currently on the second run-through), the account continues to grow and find a new audience.
@Janet12358W – Subverting brands for massive engagement
Blaming disabled people trying to survive under ableist capitalism for the rammifications of said ableist capitalism (i.e. carbon footprints, plastic misuse etc.) makes you a terrible person. Oh also it’s -53,642.19 points. https://t.co/diefw6FepS
— Janet (@Janet12358W) October 30, 2019
NBC’s hit meta-existential comedy The Good Place recently finished its stellar four-year run – and it’s sure to remain one of the most important shows of the 2010s. With its unlikely combination of relatable characters and deep philosophical discussions it stole the hearts of viewers worldwide.
Janet, one of the main characters of the show, has a Twitter account. That would seem obvious, right? On it, as in the show, she helps to explain how certain actions affect everyone’s “morality score”, which determines whether a person ends up in the titular “good place” after death.
The only catch, @Janet12358W isn’t run by NBC. It’s a fan-made account, albeit seemingly endorsed by the cast. This lack of corporate control frees up Janet to be true to her principles without having to worry about angering a sponsor. As such, she pulls no punches – and enjoys a dedicated following as a result.
Celeste Barber – modelling for everyone
Celeste Barber is an Instagram user known for taking professional photos of models and recreating them at home. Her unique style of visual comedy garnered her over seven million followers. Small wonder – it’s honestly impressive how far she’ll go for the perfect spoof.
Biggy Pop – even a bird can be an influencer
This Instagram account proves that you don’t even need to be human in order to make it big on Instagram. Iggy Pop’s pet parrot, cleverly named Biggy Pop, has been Instagram’s darling from the moment he joined the platform. He claims his success is all natural – but being best friends with a rock star surely didn’t hurt!
Cory Richards – stick with what you know
Cory Richards is a National Geographic photographer – but more pertinently, he perfectly demonstrates that you don’t need any gimmicks to maintain a large following. Richards’ profile is filled with examples of his work – and not much else. Letting your work speak for itself is sometimes the best strategy, especially if you’re as talented as Richards.
Fashion Dads – embracing the stereotypes
Fashion Dads is one of those inexplicable profiles that are too charming not to mention. We’ve all heard the jokes about dads and their fashion sense – focused entirely on comfort, aesthetics be damned.
Fashion Dads aims to celebrate dads in all of their, um, dad-ness by showcasing only the finest examples of fatherly haute couture. With around 177,000 followers it may not command as large a following as some of our other examples – it is, however, on the rise.
Mike Escamilla – a stuntman with an eye for detail
Mike Escamilla started his career in extreme sports as one of the founding fathers of modern BMX riding. He later expanded his pursuits to include acting and performing stunts.
He is also a keen-eyed photographer with a penchant for combining his love of extreme sports and unique photography setups. Aside from unbelievably contrived shots and breathtaking views, the stuntman also shares moments from his family life.
Classical Art Memes – remix culture at its finest
Classical Art Memes need no introduction – they are perhaps the most imitated profile on the list. Their unique combination of no-holds-barred memetics and high art launched a thousand imitators, none of them reaching the heights of the genuine article.
Moskalus – leading the underground music revolution
This profile demonstrates that a large following isn’t always necessary to strike a huge impact. Moskalus, alongside other similar profiles, has been at the forefront of the lo-fi house movement – that being an explosive new genre of dance music that has been a mainstay of dancefloors worldwide.
Moskalus aims to showcase new music within a variety of underground genres – and has been widely successful in doing so. In fact, many prominent artists within modern electronic music, such as Ross From Friends and Mall Grab have had their careers launched thanks to being featured by profiles such as Moskalus.
Ben Montero – mental health and positivity
Ben Montero is an Australian cartoonist whose childlike style is juxtaposed with a rather serious subject matter – mental health. Despite how heavy the topic can get (and rest assured, the artist doesn’t pull any punches), the kindness and positivity that ooze out of every picture have proven time and again to be effective in tackling these issues.
Arby’s – celebrating fandoms with fast food
Arby’s have made a name for themselves by appealing to one demographic in particular – the anime and video game fandoms. Aside from posting the standard type of content that we’ve come to expect from fast food chains – promotional offers, videos, tie-ins with popular media – they also publish content that references popular anime series and new video game releases. It works, too – these types of content effortlessly outperform the “standard” content.
