Woot! 10,000 internal views and I’m trending
How Twitter Trends Gave Me My First $250 Story in 7 Days
But that’s not all you get once you have a trending story; you also get hate and weird comments.
My story on Ricky Martin’s alleged incestuous relationship with his nephew and a protective order issued by a Puerto Rican judge is the 4th trending story in July at ILLUMINATION, a Medium publication that has been part of my writing journey from the very start.
Big thanks to Dr. Mehmet Yildiz and his group of editors, and special mention to Dr. Michael Heng who published my story, because when he does my story goes viral.
Evergreen vs Trending content
What works well here can be anything, and when your story goes viral it will take you by surprise.
A word of caution, don’t bother to analyze how it happened, there is no template to discover or a special method that you can replicate in hope that your next story will be as viral as your first.
Believe me, it just happens.
The beauty of writing on Medium is you can try any genre, style, or niche and when it looks like you're failing you can easily pivot to something else until you discover your niche. Yes, you need a niche.
And the debate between evergreen content or trending topic, which one you should write about is moot and academic.
You can do well with either evergreen content or trending topics. In my case, I have tried everything and I enjoyed the process but with it came the frustration of not earning enough money that I needed to keep on doing what I love — writing.
I have written stories about topics that I hardly know anything about, stories that I am passionate about, and stories that I read on Twitter.
Yes, Twitter is my go-to source for the stories I write here. — Napoleon
Twitter Trends
Even networks that spew hate use Twitter trending topics to have something to talk about on their shows.
That is the power of Twitter, yes, the social media platform that is suing the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
Twitter Trends FAQ
Where can I find Trends?
Trends are available on the Twitter for iOS app, the Twitter for Android app, and twitter.com.
On Twitter’s mobile apps, you can find Trends listed under the Trends section of the Explore tab when signed in to twitter.com on a desktop or laptop computer, Trends are listed in many places, including the Home timeline, Notifications, search results, and profile pages.
How are Trends determined?
Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow, your interests, and your location. This algorithm identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter.
You can choose to see Trends that are not tailored for you by selecting a specific Trends location on twitter.com, iOS, or Android (instructions below). Location Trends identify popular topics among people in a specific geographic location.
Note: The number of Tweets that are related to the Trends is just one of the factors the algorithm looks at when ranking and determining trends. Algorithmically, Trends and hashtags are grouped together if they are related to the same topic. For instance, #MondayMotivation and #MotivationMonday may both be represented by #MondayMotivation.
What does the # sign mean?
You may notice that some trends have # sign before the word or phrase. This is called a hashtag and is included specifically in Tweets to mark them as relating to a topic, so that people can follow the conversation in search.
Will I see world and local events in my Trends?
Yes, when signed into your account on the twitter.com, iOS, or Android, Trends will be tailored for you based on your location and who you follow. There will be many world and local news events and conversations that will appear in your trends regardless of your personalization.
Can I see Trends for a specific location?
Yes, you can view Trends for a specific location on twitter.com, iOS, or Android. — Excerpt, Twitter Trends FAQ
My $250 Story in 7 Days
We all know it by now, readership is down. It is summer, people should be enjoying it or is it too hot? Hello, climate change.
And we compete not amongst ourselves but with the things even writers do, scroll through social media feeds, chit-chat with friends, and take selfies.
We are fighting over what little time people can give to reading, a sad thing but that’s the reality.
So, while I made over $250 from one story, it isn’t a guarantee that the next one will be another trending story.
But I know I can do it again, and I believe my next trending story is a $1,000 story. Universe, I’m ready!!!
Not every trending topic on Twitter that I wrote a story about became a hit, I simply moved forward and wrote the next one.
Every time we indulge our frustration or our inner critic is time away from writing our next story.
Was I lucky? Yes, I was. But I also spent a lot of time reading tweets on Twitter and articles from news sources, and even here.
Again, there is no guarantee or a formula. Although here’s a golden tip that worked for me — Write the best headline, use a headline analyzer and spice it up with an attention-grabbing photo.
Wrapping it up
When you have a hit, enjoy it. Don’t let the doomsayers make you believe otherwise. The 10,000 internal views mean that there are thousands of readers here waiting to be served.
I still have stories, some even curated by the algorithm that still gets single-digit readers. I won’t pretend that they don’t happen, but most of the time they are the stories that I put my heart and soul into writing them.
Not everything is about money, but money pays for the bills and buys my fur baby Phi Phi some nice things.
My Ricky Martin story attracted readers, and I’m thankful for all of them. But it also got some bad comments, even weird ones.
It is the price we pay as writers, not everyone will like us, not everyone will agree with us and not everyone will applaud us.
As someone I love always says, flip your hair and don’t let the critics rain on your parade.
I am still basking in the glory of my first $250 in 7 days story! And if you are not on Twitter, you are missing what could be where you get your next viral story.
Thank you for reading.
Sources:
The Conversation: Twitter Trends 2022
Here are some of my stories, all complimentary.
👉What Does Losing 21 Pounds Do for Your Body, Ask Kim Kardashian — Free Reading.
👉Ricky Martin Denies Charges of Incest and Can Spend the Rest of His Life in Jail If Found Guilty — Free Reading.
👉Clothes Optional My First Nude Beach Experience, Not as Bad as Adam Sandler’s — Free Reading.
👉Claim your offer.
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