Your Old Tweets Are Waiting for You to Become Famous

There is something you need to understand when you’re still an upcoming person: people may not know you yet, but the internet is watching.

You have no fanbase. Nobody is screenshotting your tweets. Nobody is creating fan pages dedicated to you. You can tweet, “This celebrity is overrated,” and go to sleep peacefully.

Better enjoy that peace while it lasts.

Because imagine spending your unknown era as a certified hater of one celebrity, dragging them every other Tuesday, only for life to happen and suddenly you’re the one appearing in interviews, getting brand deals and becoming everybody’s new favourite person.

Congratulations!

Unfortunately, your old tweets have also been promoted.

The Internet Never Really Forgets

One thing about the internet is that once something is out there, you don’t always know where it ends up.

You can delete the tweet.

You can archive the Instagram post.

You can change your username and profile picture.

You can even wake up one morning and decide that the person you were in 2018 is no longer you.

But somebody may still have the screenshot.

And Nigerians? We love a receipt.

The funniest thing is that you probably weren’t even trying to become controversial when you made the post.

You were just there with your 37 followers, expressing yourself.

Nobody knew you.

Nobody cared.

You had no idea that five years later, somebody would be zooming into your old profile picture trying to establish whether you really said it.

Enjoy Your “Nobody Knows Me” Era While It Lasts

When you’re still unknown, there’s a certain freedom that comes with it.

Shebi you can tweet whatever comes to your mind.

You can enter celebrity arguments.

You can write a full essay under an Instagram post.

You can quote-tweet somebody and confidently say, “I don’t understand why people like this person.”

And then close the app.

Because who is checking?

You have 86 followers.

But the moment you start gaining attention, everything changes.

That same tweet that nobody noticed suddenly becomes interesting.

People start looking at your old posts.

Then your old comments.

Then your reposts.

Then your tweets from an account you forgot existed.

At this point, your past has officially become content.

Imagine Becoming the Person You Used to Drag

This is where things get particularly funny.

Imagine spending years being a certified hater of one celebrity.

You don’t like their music.

You don’t like their acting.

You don’t understand why people hype them.

You have said it all with your full chest.

Then, a few years later, you become a celebrity yourself.

You’re getting interviews.

Brands are calling.

People are celebrating your achievements.

You’re finally entering your “Who is this babe?” era.

Then somebody remembers.

And just like that, the internet has opened a new investigation.

They will bring out screenshots.

They will find the old tweets.

They will find your Instagram comments.

They will remind everybody that during your “we no send your papa” era, you had absolutely no mercy.

Now you have to explain yourself.

And suddenly, that opinion you tweeted casually in 2019 is being discussed like it was a presidential speech.

Your Future Haters Are Also Watching

This is probably the part people forget.

When you’re unknown, you’re mostly just posting for yourself.

But once you become popular, you will naturally have people who don’t like you.

Some may dislike your work.

Some may dislike your personality.

Some may simply dislike you because you’re doing well.

And some?

They have too much free time.

These are the people who will go through your old posts looking for something.

Not because they suddenly became historians, but because they want something to use against you.

So that random tweet you made when you were 19 and angry about a celebrity?

It may suddenly become their favourite discovery.

And you cannot even be too angry because.

You really did tweet it.

Today’s Twitter commentator could become an influencer.

Today’s unknown person could become the person everybody suddenly wants to know everything about.

And when that happens, people won’t only look at where you are.

They’ll look at where you’ve been.

Hold Diswan

So, to every upcoming celebrity, influencer, creator and aspiring public figure currently enjoying their peaceful “nobody knows me” era:

Tweet with sense.

Argue if you must.

Have your opinions.

Drag responsibly.

But maybe don’t build an entire digital museum of evidence against yourself.

Because you may think nobody is watching now, but fame has a funny way of making people interested in your history.

And by the time you’re famous, you won’t just have fans.

You’ll have haters with screenshots.

And trust Nigerians, they will come with receipts.