About

Self-Replicating Tweets refers to a type of tweet utilizing the Conversational Ads tweet promotion function. The tweets created using the function have one or several buttons which, when pressed, generate an exact copy of the original tweet and prompt the user to post it to their timeline. Initially gaining popularity in late 2020 with Bingus and Carp tweets, the format gained a notable presence on Twitter in 2021.

Origin

On November 25th, 2020, Twitter^[1] user @koopashi posted a video of Bingus originally created by YouTube user SanctuaryLads, writing "bingus my love <3" (screenshot shown below). The tweet made use of Twitter's Conversational Ads^[2] function for advertisers, with the tweet containing a button titled "Tweet #BINGUS" that, upon being pressed, generated the exact copy of @koopashi's tweet and prompted the user to post it to their timeline.

Starting on the same day, the tweet received viral spread on Twitter,^[3][4] with users creating copies of the tweet by pressing the button. For example, that day, Twitter^[5] account @PooryAgedThings posted a copy of the tweet (shown below, right), with the post gaining over 360 retweets and 6,000 likes, further assisting its spread in late November 2020.

Spread

Carp Tweets

On December 18th, 2020, Twitter^[6] user @dm4uz3, inspired by Bingus Tweets,^[7][8] posted a tweet containing an image of a carp being held in a hand and a "tweet #carp" button that allowed mobile users to post an exact copy (shown below, left). At that time on the desktop version of Twitter, the button was replaced with a link for a Wikipedia entry on carp, which was later changed (shown below, right).

Within 20 minutes, @dm4uz3 promoted^[8] the tweet on Twitter.

In the following hours, the carp tweet witnessed an exponential spread on Twitter (example video^[10] shown below).

What even the fuck#carp pic.twitter.com/LUw47G3VJh

— That_Virgo/ One click awy from Insane (@JoshTheVirgo) December 19, 2020

Within one hour of being posted, "carp" reached Twitter^[11] trends in the United Kingdom with over 65,600 tweets posted (image shown below, left). Within two hours, "carp" accumulated^[12] over 206,000 tweets (image shown below, right). The viral spread of carp tweets inspired fan art, memes and meta-jokes.

Further Spread

The self-replicating tweets meme format saw further use in 2021. Notable examples include Gromit Mug vs. Monkey Mug meme started by Twitter^[13] account Things That Changed the Internet (@ShapedInternet) on March 21st, 2021, (shown below, left) and We Will Boil Him Soon Alhamdulillah, started by Twitter^[14] user @timo77lol on March 29th, 2021 (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References