The 25 most-shared posts about Defence on X, and what they have in common

There are 67 posts about Defence in the library, with 179,101 likes between them. These are the 25 that travelled furthest. The list is the easy part; what they have in common is the reason to read it.

The 25

@SenMarkKelly — “The Signal incident is what happens when you have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense we've ever seen.” — 35,954 likes · open
@ChrisJBakke — “I’m a software engineering intern at the US Department of Defense.” — 24,650 likes · open
@Zai_org — “Introducing GLM-5.3: Built to Code. Ready for Cyber Defense.” — 19,348 likes · open
@sama — “this is a critically important moment for cyber defense with AI; there is not much time to act.” — 17,361 likes · open
@ArmandDoma — “one of the most frustrating things about DOGE is that there is so much genuine waste in the federal government—bloated defense contracts, i…” — 13,575 likes · open
@JTLonsdale — “Taxation is theft. It should be kept to a minimum.” — 7,201 likes · open
@sama — “OpenAI is launching Daybreak, our effort to accelerate cyber defense and continuously secure software.” — 5,408 likes · open
@AndrewYNg — “Good move by @JensenHuang. The Nvidia letter is well written and worth reading. As we saw with the OpenAI-Hugging Face hack, we need open m…” — 4,386 likes · open
@tedlieu — “Anthropic objected in part to the Department of Defense using its AI technology to engage in domestic mass surveillance.” — 3,948 likes · open
@eriktorenberg — “Some of my favorite Naval Ravikant takeaways & quotes from his interviews 👇” — 3,558 likes · open
@martingund — “My Phone Was Spying on Me, so I Tracked Down the Surveillants” — 3,300 likes · open
@dhh — “And the best defense of all: THAT’S JUST HOW THE CREDIT INDUSTRY WORKS. Ehh, okay? How is that anything but the most damning charge upon Ap…” — 3,012 likes · open
@ModernVintageG — “I do want to point out that Hi-Fi Rush isn't a 'small game'. It took over 4 years to develop. No defense of how Xbox leadership has been ru…” — 2,804 likes · open
@CubicleApril — “got laid off in the big @dropbox layoffs today.” — 2,474 likes · open
@ChrisRMcGuire — “There is no defense of the admin’s AI policy. It is literally destroying American AI companies, while exporting AI chips to Chinese AI comp…” — 1,933 likes · open
@wartranslated — “FirePoint has presented a Ukrainian counterpart to the Patriot SAM missile - the FP-7.x. An anti-aircraft missile designed for the Ukrainia…” — 1,413 likes · open
@garrytan — “30% of YC companies exposed through SVB can’t make payroll in the next 30 days.” — 1,386 likes · open
@SECNAV — “We called on industry to rapidly scale up munitions output, and @RTX_News is delivering.” — 1,349 likes · open
@MatthewKeysLive — “I have been waiting six years for karma to catch up to Taylor Lorenz.” — 1,314 likes · open
@garrytan — “If you survey enough people, all the advice will cancel to zero. You do have to have your own point of view:” — 1,247 likes · open
@cryps1s — “Our Black Hat talk on the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident is now live on youtube.” — 1,239 likes · open
@DJSnM — “This power strategy makes a lot of sense for Boom, letting them monetize their engines early and get operational experience before the airf…” — 1,210 likes · open
@sama — “This is our first model that hits "high" for cybersecurity on our preparedness framework.” — 1,182 likes · open
@ryan_waas — “Okay so, the new Airchat is impressive, I did not expect it to be this good.” — 1,095 likes · open
@LevyAntoine — “This is flying a bit under the radar.” — 991 likes · open

3 of the 25 are from @sama, 2 from @garrytan — the rest are 20 different accounts. A subject with one dominant voice reads differently from one with many; this one has many.

What they have in common

22 of the 25 open with an observation. The mechanism the analysis names most often is specificity — exact numbers, named tools, precise dates — details that make a claim feel observed rather than asserted — in 4 of them; pattern interrupts in 3. 5 of the 25 put a figure in the first line. The median post is 265 characters long — a single post, not a thread.

Three to study

@SenMarkKelly — 35,954 likes

The Signal incident is what happens when you have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense we've ever seen.
— @SenMarkKelly, 35,954 likes · open the post

Written from experience rather than as advice, which is harder to argue with.
Short enough to read in full without expanding, which removes a step before the point lands.

@ChrisJBakke — 24,650 likes

I’m a software engineering intern at the US Department of Defense.
— @ChrisJBakke, 24,650 likes · open the post

Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
Follows a clear Hook → Context → Landing shape, so the reader always knows where they are.
Ends on a short line that is easy to quote and repeat.

@Zai_org — 19,348 likes

Introducing GLM-5.3: Built to Code. Ready for Cyber Defense.
— @Zai_org, 19,348 likes · open the post

Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
Uses concrete numbers instead of vague claims, which makes it credible and quotable.
Follows a clear Hook → List → Landing shape, so the reader always knows where they are.

How to write one

Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening. Replace the subject matter entirely with the writer’s own product, story and numbers.
Preserve the Hook → Context → Landing structure and the plain observation opening. Replace the subject matter entirely with the writer’s own product, story and numbers.
Keep the subject and change everything else: the facts, the figures and the voice have to be yours. What transfers is where the hook lands and how the second line earns it.

Filter the library to Defence, ordered by likes to read the rest, or remix the top three with your own product as the subject.