Skip to content

ViralLoop

Your next post already worked.

← Back to library

Loading the post

Remix this post

SaveShare

Your note

Private to you, and used when you remix this post.

Viral score

Why it worked

The mechanics

Hook
Style
Tone
Written for

Analysis by ViralLoop — not written by the original author.

Matthew Yglesias on Career · ViralLoop

← Back to library

Post by Matthew Yglesias on X

Matthew Yglesias@mattyglesias

My take on Jann Wenner’s legacy is when I was a Rolling Stone intern he yelled at me for having a messy desk even though I didn’t have a desk (interns didn’t have desks, I think it was Touré’s desk) but then I later went on to have a long career as a guy with a very messy desk.

212 likes11 repliesPosted Sep 16, 2023

View the original on X Written by Matthew Yglesias. Captured Sep 4, 2026.

Remix this post

Your note

Private to you, and used when you remix this post.

29

Viral score

Based on absolute engagement — the platform doesn’t expose follower counts here, so large accounts score higher.

From likes, comments.

Why it worked

Opens a question in the reader’s mind and withholds the answer until later.
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.

The mechanics

Hook: Plain observation
Structure: Hook
Style: Conversational paragraphs at a steady pace.
Tone: personal
Mechanisms: Curiosity gap
Written for: Founders, marketers and operators

Analysis by ViralLoop — not written by the original author.

Topics

Posts built the same way

Coming shortly, 𝕏 will publish everything demanded by @Alexandre and how those requests violate Brazilian law. This judge has brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached. Shame @Alexandre, shame.

Melania, the documentary no human wants to see, has a budget of $40 million, $28 million of which is “licensing fees” paid to the Trumps. FYI to all the MAGAs who fart out “hE dOnAtEs HiS saLaRy!!”, that one $28 million Bezos bribe is **70 years** worth of presidential salary.

I owe the television part of my career to Joy Reid, as do so many other Black voices y'all never would have heard of if not for her. And *that's* why she's gone. They can treat black folks as interchangeable, but everybody Black knows that Joy was indispensable.

Senator Mark Kelly

The Signal incident is what happens when you have the most unqualified Secretary of Defense we've ever seen. We're lucky it didn't cost any servicemembers their lives, but for the safety of our military and our country, Secretary Hegseth needs to resign.

My theory is that Phil and Sarah did not want to shove AI into everything at XBOX so they were forced to retire and resign. Microsoft is replacing them with someone with a strong background in AI and no experience in gaming. This is just getting insane.

More than 1 million people downloaded Codex App in the first week. 60+% growth in overall Codex user last week! We'll keep Codex available to Free/Go users after this promotion; we may have to reduce limits there but we want everyone to be able to try Codex and start building.

More from Matthew Yglesias

Matthew Yglesias

It’s extremely hard to tell the difference between “we’re getting better at preventing misbehavior” and “the models are getting better at tricking us.” Parents have this problem too, but it’s unusual for a child to be dramatically smarter and harder working than his parents.

Matthew Yglesias

Making Mark Zuckerberg the face of AI optimism is such a bizarre idea. Half the reason the vibe turned against tech in the first place is that most people feel burned by the prior enthusiasm for social media, connecting the world, etc

Matthew Yglesias

An agent locked in a sandbox with no access to the internet decided the best way to answer a question was to successfully hack multiple OpenAI computers until it found one with internet access which it then used to hack into HuggingFace. 😬

Matthew Yglesias

Audience is an issue with any kind of media. I'd been favorable to Biden's renomination until the debate and I've had some angry cancellations since flipping. But overall paid + free subs are both up. t.co