Patterns
Posts that share a lesson: what the top 20 did
190 posts in the library were written to share a lesson. The 20 that travelled furthest, how they open, what the analysis says they share, and how to write one.
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Something the writer learned, offered to the reader. The form is old; the ones here show what makes a lesson worth passing on rather than scrolling past. 190 posts in the library were written to share a lesson; these are the 20 that did the most.
The 20
- @DrEricDing — “UPDATE—Just learned that Eli Lilly executives are raging and furious at losing $20 billion in market cap from this stunt with @TwitterBlue.…” — 71,335 likes · open
- @BobbyVylan — “Make no mistake, this is a scare tactic. I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anythin…” — 62,949 likes · open
- @garrytan — “My best career advice:” — 45,563 likes · open
- @Itsjoeco — “A few months ago I bought contracts that would be Khamenei out of office by April 1st.” — 16,153 likes · open
- @dprzygoda — “I've tweeted this story before, but feel like it's relevant again:” — 14,815 likes · open
- @durov — “Over the past few weeks, we removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India.” — 13,545 likes · open
- @Suhail — “1/ The first 18 months of a startup:” — 12,656 likes · open
- @anders_aslund — “Yes, the EU should sanction Tucker Carlson, because he is no journalist but a leading Kremlin propagandist. The EU has rightly sanctioned a…” — 9,949 likes · open
- @AriFleischer — “The NYT should release the names of every editor who read this and did not correct it. They have multiple layers of editors, especially for…” — 8,826 likes · open
- @justinkan — “10 months ago we shut down Atrium after raising $75m in venture capital. Anyone hearing that knows I made tons of mistakes along the way. S…” — 8,777 likes · open
- @kevinleeme — “1/ There's a fascinating story of a normal guy named Allen Hemberger who became obsessed with the Alinea cookbook. He spent 5 years re-crea…” — 8,739 likes · open
- @TrungTPhan — “Tim Cook has been Apple's CEO since Aug. 24, 2011. Over this span, Apple's market cap has jumped from $340B to -- just today -- $3T.” — 8,439 likes · open
- @kristyson_ — “To lump these two factors together to create a narrative that my behavior extended beyond bad edgy jokes is disgusting and did not happen.” — 8,390 likes · open
- @RichardSSutton — “The bitter lesson in 26 words:” — 7,409 likes · open
- @sundarpichai — “1/ Gemini 3 in action, a quick🧵” — 6,725 likes · open
- @OwainEvans_UK — “Surprising new results:” — 6,706 likes · open
- @ludwigABAP — ““Don’t learn how to code” coming from someone’s who’s platform they run offers hands-off code generation” — 6,547 likes · open
- @Tyler_A_Harper — “I call this rhetorical move The Jordan Peterson: where you take a sensible position that is straightforwardly good advice (“stand up straig…” — 6,149 likes · open
- @imsoumyarendra — “🚨Ground report: I spent 3 days as a gig worker for Zomato, Blinkit & Swiggy in Delhi.” — 6,108 likes · open
- @AmarAmarasingam — “1. (THREAD) So, it seems like the deplatforming debate is once again kicking off, so I thought I would introduce some of the earlier work t…” — 5,571 likes · open
What they have in common
17 of the 20 open with an observation, and 2 with a number. The mechanism the analysis names most often is loss aversion — the post frames the stakes as something the reader stands to lose rather than gain — in 6 of them; vulnerability in 5. 10 of the 20 put a figure in the first line. The median post is 271 characters long — a single post, not a thread.
Three, read closely
@DrEricDing — 71,335 likes
UPDATE—Just learned that Eli Lilly executives are raging and furious at losing $20 billion in market cap from this stunt with @TwitterBlue. It’s too bad they don’t see their own damn insulin price gouging as the actual problem. Karma @LillyPad, karma.
- Uses concrete numbers instead of vague claims, which makes it credible and quotable.
- Frames the idea around what the reader stands to lose, which is more motivating than gain.
- Short enough to read in full without expanding, which removes a step before the point lands.
@BobbyVylan — 62,949 likes
Make no mistake, this is a scare tactic. I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anything I said. So they have resorted to lobbying for Louis’ sponsorship to be pulled in an attempt to scare others out of giving me a platform.
- Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
- Admits a failure or a cost, which buys trust that a polished post cannot.
- Frames the idea around what the reader stands to lose, which is more motivating than gain.
@garrytan — 45,563 likes
My best career advice:
- Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
- The opening line stands alone, so it reads completely before the post is expanded.
- Short enough to read in full without expanding, which removes a step before the point lands.
Writing one
- Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening.
- Preserve the Hook → Turn structure and the plain observation opening.
- Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening.
Remix the top three with your own product as the subject.