Thread by @RMAjayi

#SocialMediaInNigeria
Weeks ago, I DMed @Rosanwo & @FamuyideOlawale about a BRAND NEW TV show which bought/borrowed an existing Twitter account with 80,000+ followers and thousands of 2015 pro-Goodluck/PDP & anti-Buhari/APC tweets, RTs

But today's lesson is about @67MillionYouth

First, Twitter's policy is very clear "You may not buy or sell Twitter usernames." See here: help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-p…

2. There is an ongoing Twitter purge & I believe we have all learnt in the past month that fake followers and buying of followers are not allowed

#67MillionYouth

3. I spend a lot of time studying #SocialMediaInNigeria & have done so for nearly 10 years. Sometimes, I share bits of my research in form of threads

I select thread subjects randomly. Could be APC today, PDP tomorrow, digital marketers next.

I belong to no one!
#67MillionYouth

Back to @67MillionYouth

Alarm bells ought to have gone off when the brand new #67MillionYouth launched in June 2018 with nearly 30,000 Twitter followers.

Why not start with 0 followers?
It’s a bad digital marketing practice. It erodes trust. It’s lazy!

#SocialMediaInNigeria

Go to the start of @67MillionYouth’s Tweets & replies tab, you'll find first tweet is June 1, 2018

Tweets tab before June 1 = lots of promo RTs

Search Media tab, you'll find tweets going back to May 2017 promoting links to job sites & healthy eating sites

#SocialMediaInNigeria

To find more vintage tweets, type @67MillionYouth and keyword into search. That's how sleuths found the anti-GEJ tweets

e.g. type @67MillionYouth love into search & you'll find the handle being used to promote Samsung. Note time of both tweets - 09:35👇🏾

#SocialMediaInNigeria

I've copied text from one @67MillionYouth tweet into search & found that the handle was part of a forced virality for cash set up

Multiple handles, possibly belonging to Expoze, posted same tweet at the same time. This breaks Twitter's rules on automation

#SocialMediaInNigeria

To find original username, I looked through the replies & @yeancarrh comes up
@Purehaire says it's @slimfitwale but I disagree based on 2014, 2015, 2017 receipts attached

#WhatWeLearntToday Don't buy Twitter accounts so as to make folk think you're popular

#SocialMediaInNigeria

Update:
I stopped looking in 2014, too tired and lazy to go further. However, @Purehaire went as far back as 2012 and found that before @67MillionYouth was @Yeancharrh, it was @SlimFitWale. Receipts attached
#SocialMediaInNigeria

https://twitter.com/PUREHAIRE/status/1024407836560896005

Update
Account created 2010
In Feb 2011-Oct 2012, username was @slimfitwale
Feb 2012 @thatslimdude
Oct 2012 @iCumFast
Oct 2012-Oct 2013 @iSlimfit
Oct 2013-Dec 2013 @vip_followback
Feb 2014-2017 @yeancarrh
Jun 2018 @67MillionYouth

Send me corrections, please
#SocialMediaInNigeria

To avoid confusion, I must say that when @67MillionYouth went by the usernames @slimfitwale & @yeancarrh, a separate account @iMrFreshh (later rebranded as @iSlimfit) had regular chats with both handles.

Usernames may still exist but accounts are different

#SocialMediaInNigeria

I have gone as far back as 2010 & I have found NO evidence that @67MillionYouth is the same account as @iHaveDecidedNG

However, @iHaveDecidedNG has disappeared. I think I can see where it is but I'm too tired to dig for receipts

https://twitter.com/oluwa_oladapo/status/1024267073583759361

#SocialMediaInNigeria

For anyone who'd like to help verify my thread or do their own searches for previous usernames of Twitter accounts, here's a great step-by-step guide by @Twirpz - twirpz.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/how… It will come in handy as the elections approach.

#SocialMediaInNigeria

I had cause to revisit the TL of the Nigerian TV show mentioned in my tweet below & they’ve now deleted their ENTIRE timeline including recent images & videos promoting the new show

However, they are yet to delete the 80K followers that came with account

https://twitter.com/rmajayi/status/1024364076007350272?s=21

I’m sorry the TV show felt the need to delete their recent and positive work from the TL. I, for one, know that Twitter accounts constantly change hands and that vintage tweets don’t necessarily reflect views of new owners.

I wouldn’t have outed the show as a PDP vehicle

For context, I am including some 2018 reactions to revelations that previous owners of @67MillionYouth account were anti-President Jonathan

Also, my research did not show any link between @67MillionYouth Twitter account & the 2015 @iHaveDecidedNG/@iHaveDecided Twitter account

Update
Aug 2, 2018 at 13:10(WAT)

@67MillionYouth published this tweet

“Our delegates have decided that this account will be shut down. Our new account is @67millionng”

Shortly before this, it posted an open letter to its “#67MillionYouth strong force”

#SocialMediaInNigeria

Aug 2, 2018

Now you see it. Now you don’t.
Twitter handle @67MillionYouth (67 Million Youth) is retired.

@67millionng (67 Million Youth Initiative) begins tweeting. New Twitter bio. New header. New followers.

[Question: Will this address trust issues?]

#SocialMediaInNigeria

Attached is the opening of the open letter from the trustees of 67 Million Youth to Nigerian youth

“Our attention has been brought to the negative posts on social media about The 67Million Youth Initiative...”

[My opinion: it’s poorly-written; condescending & reads like a rant]

67 Million Youth is positioning itself as a voice for the 67million-strong youth bloc. It’s normal that the target audience will ask questions

Understanding that youth have been burnt repeatedly by youth groups, 67M ought to have focused on TRANSPARENCY and BUILDING TRUST first

Here, #67MillionYouth trustees share how list of delegates was compiled & funding of ads [this ought to have come weeks ago]

Why did anyone progressive approve this divisive mess - “A lot of attention has been put on the Muslim APC delegates”?
Debola, Omojuwa, Iyin aren’t Muslim

If people have an issue with folk like Bashir being a delegate, it’s because he is a Buharist, not Muslim!

However, #67MillionYouth trustees do not address why @AbangMercy was publicly listed as delegate [One other has told me privately their name was included without consent]

#67MillionYouth trustees admit to “engaging a media consultant who proceeded to acquire an existing Twitter handle without doing the proper vetting, we knew of the plan but not what the account was used for in 2015”

It’s dishonest to launch a campaign with padded/fake followers

I pray #67MillionYouth does some genuine soul searching

The manner in which 67M has conducted itself to date shows that it is happy to cut corners & does not care for the heavy lifting required to build. It will throw the religious card when challenged

I wish everyone goodluck.