Personality Interview: Comic Writer James Breakwell Shares How Tweeting About Conversations With His Four Daughters Made His Account Go Viral.
James Breakwell's tweets about his everyday experience with his four daughters all under the age of six are simply delightfully hilarious! He has been featured on several websites and blogs from DailyMailUk to Mashable due to the witty and sometimes relatable - if you have kids of your own- conversations he has with his daughters which he tweets on his Twitter account @XplodingUnicorn . Their conversations usually ranges from economics, school, food, clothing, sisterhood and parenthood. Its actually pretty wide. He is an office worker and freelancer and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his family.
His Twitter account has more engagement and reach than his Facebook Page which makes more sense for the line of work he is in.
Check out a few of his tweets
[hardware store]
— Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) May 7, 2016
Me: Should I buy the electric hedge trimmer?
5-year-old: We don’t have any electric hedges.
and this..
3-year-old: My jacket smells like a camel.
— Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) May 6, 2016
Me: What does a camel smell like?
3: My jacket.
Me and my stupid questions.
His Twitter following has grown by more than 1000% due to the content he shares. He currently has more than 500K followers with a daily growth by more than 50 a day.
I e-interviewed James via Twitter to share more on how social media, in this case Twitter & Facebook, have impacted his life and career.
O.Q So James, when did you realize you should be tweeting your everyday experience with your beautiful daughters?
J. B I'm uncreative, so I tweet about whatever is in front of me. Usually, that is my children. They never really go away. I started this account back when I had a mere two kids. As I added children, they took over my life and my Twitter account at the same time.
[bed time]
— Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) April 28, 2016
Me: Your mom told you to stay in bed.
3-year-old: There's a scary monster in my closet
Me: Scarier than Mom?
3: *goes to bed*
O.Q Did you think it would generate such a following?
J.B I didn't know I would ever gain this many followers, but I've been plugging away at it for years. I write jokes every single day about my children. I figured if I kept at it, something good would eventually happen. People can't ignore me forever. It's the law of averages.
[breaking up a fight]
— Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) May 9, 2016
Me: Tell your sister you're sorry.
5-year-old: You told me not to lie.
O.Q Which other social media tools are you using for this experience?
J.B I mostly tweet from my phone or computer directly into Twitter. If I need to schedule something, I use Hootsuite.
O.Q How has this impacted on your career?
J.B My boss doesn't know about my online double life, so it hasn't impacted my real career at all. As far as my dreams of becoming a full time comedy writer, I've gained a ton of opportunities through Twitter. Ever since my account went viral, there may be some big things on the horizon.
O.Q I noticed you write for others. Can you share more on this?
J.B I mostly write freelance articles for other publications, but I'm willing to sell jokes or tweet for people if the circumstances call for it. I usually come up with more material than I can use on my account, anyway. Today a kid offered to pay me to write her research paper. That's where I draw the line. I got into comedy writing to have fun, not to help some kid cheat at her homework.
O.Q Does your wife tweet? How is she handling your current reach?
J.B My wife does not tweet. She sometimes reads my tweets, but usually she does her best to avoid them. She's all for my sudden burst of fame and the writing opportunities that come with it. She would like us to avoid bankruptcy when we send the kids to college.
My mom: *glances at my phone* I can't believe 421 people follow you.
— Exploding Unicorn (@XplodingUnicorn) April 23, 2016
Me: 421,000.
Mom: God, the Internet is a sad place.
O.Q Do you get people approaching you on the street asking if you are that guy?
J.B After my account went viral, I was recognized a few times. The ladies who watch my kids at daycare recognized me, and so did a random person from church. Other than that, I've been as anonymous as ever in real life.
O.Q What on earth is an Exploding Unicorn? A dead one?
J.B Back in high school, I had some extra time at the end of a computer literacy class, so I did the logical thing and started writing a fake book of the Bible. One passage was about unicorns that exploded because they were filled with hydrogen. The image stuck with me.
O.Q Are you not worried about privacy issues ( if any)?
J.B I write under a pen name, and I use fake names for my kids. It keeps me from being fired and my family from being murdered. So far, so good.
O.Q what will you move on to when they are all grown up?
J.B I used to tweet about every topic under the sun. I only gravitated toward kid tweets because those were always the ones that performed the best. I'm confident I can keep telling jokes even after they're grown. Besides, Twitter will be long gone by then. *dropsmic*
A succinct example of how social media can be used to grow not only a following but also one's influence which can positively impacts on your career. It's all about the strategy and sticking to the content consistency.
