Twitter is Weird.

In my recent internet browsings, I came across an article about the phenomenon of parody Twitter accounts. For those not in the know, a parody account is one that isn't directly associated with a real person, but rather with an idea. The one this article focused on was "Tweet Like A Girl". Accounts like these tweet things lots of people can relate to, which followers then retweet or favorite. I personally am not typically one to follow or retweet parody accounts. I follow a "PA Problems" Twitter account, which tweets things people from Pennsylvania can relate to, one called "Bloomsburg Life", which is similar, but specific to my hometown, "Doctor Pug", which tweets "pugscriptions" which usually involve pizza, naps, and cuddles, and "Modern Day Clueless", which takes quotes from the classic 90s teen film and modifies them to apply to today. I don't follow the popular ones, like the aforementioned "Tweet Like A Girl", "Ya Boy Bill Nye", "Earl Dibbles Jr.", and @chanelpuke, also known as "what". These tend to annoy me, and I'm not one to retweet sappy things about relationships and friendships and being disappointed about things that are a part of life and happen to everyone.

The strangest thing about the "Tweet Like A Girl" isn't the fact that it's a Twitter account only tweeting things just for them to be retweeted. It's that the account is run by 21 year old Cameron Asa, from the University of Tennessee. The "Twitter Illuminati" Asa is a part of is mainly responsible for huge Twitter fads, like the recent "Alex from Target" episode. Asa has had other accounts than TLAG; he had a "Call Me Maybe" account, parodying the Carly Rae Jepsen song, which was his first, and an account called "Retweet Dares".

The other insane part about parody Twitter accounts is the money account owners make from them. Asa says he can make up to $500-$1000 just for posting once about an app. His messages have impact too; from just one tweet by Asa, an app was downloaded a whopping 20,000 times. This kind of partnership with brands is just like the one Tyler Oakley the YouTube celebrity has had with others in the past, as described in the Frontline documentary Generation Like. Asa has even advertised for movies, like Nicholas Sparks' The Best of Me, which fits his follower demographic: young women and girls.

It's weird that Asa, a 21 year old man, tweets as a teenage girl. It's weird that he can make an entire living from tweeting thinly veiled ads for apps and movies. It's weird that Twitter users actually enjoy the regurgitated content and trite messages pushed by these types of accounts. I guess, more succinctly, it's weird that parody accounts are profitable and successfully run by people who have nothing to do with what they're tweeting about.