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Hey everyone,

I've been pondering an interesting question lately: how do individuals who don't run a YouTube channel manage to build a significant online following? It's quite an intriguing concept, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

One idea that comes to mind is the impact of contributing something valuable to a community. A prime example would be John Wu, the mastermind behind Magisk, an accessible tool for rooting Android devices. He identified a need and fulfilled it with Magisk. But what intrigues me is how Magisk gained its initial popularity. Sure, there was a demand for such an app, but how did it capture people's attention?

Here's where I'm curious about your insights: How do individuals become integrated into an online community? Is it a blend of skill and luck, or does one outweigh the other? Could it solely be attributed to exceptional skills or just being in the right place at the right time?

Looking forward to a thoughtful discussion!


(I made chatgpt make the post more readable (that's why it is so formal because I am terrible at writing)

The answer is going to depend a lot on your motivation. Do you just want fame for the sake of fame, or do you want recognition for something that you have or that you've done?

Fame as a concept isn't necessarily complicated, it simply means people find you interesting enough to want to pay attention to you. However there's a huge variety of reasons that that may be the case; people might like your work, what you say, your public persona, etc. There's no one way to get there.

On the internet, it's very possible to play the social media "game" to gather a following. Essentially just being highly active and engaged will do it, though it helps a lot if you're saying things that people agree with, and it helps even more if you present a lifestyle that people aspire to. You can get very cynical here, though in fairness, people tend to respond better to what they perceive to be authentic too.

I would say luck is generally the biggest factor to any kind of success. You don't necessarily have to work hard to be lucky, but hard work will make you much more likely to be in the right place at the right time, which at the end of the day is what it's all about.

Interesting question - so interesting that it made me want to log on here for the first time in like seven months, lol.

Matt has already said a lot of what I would have wanted to say, so there's that. Though, it sounds like you're talking purely in the context of technical communities, especially given your example. And because you mentioned it, I kinda want to comment on how technical projects become popular anyway, reflecting on stuff I've observed with other projects, and owing somewhat loosely to personal experience.

So, how do projects like Magisk become so popular? Assuming the creator behind it wasn't already well-known, well, it's kind of simple.

The main thing is - you've already mentioned it - there was demand for it. People would see it, they'd be like "hey, that's actually really cool and useful!". They then tell their friends who may also be in need of something like it, the cycle continues, etc. Since demand is needed, it usually has to be something that most people have never seen before, or something better at least.

That cycle usually doesn't start from nothing though. At first, it'll spring from self advertisement. If you have a small following already, you might talk about it there. You might create a forum post for it somewhere trying to showcase what it does and why it's so great. If you see someone on Reddit asking about something, and you know that your project can solve their problem, then you talk about it there, etc.

If you manage to gain some traction, from there, the cycle sort of just keeps going. Hell, if you're lucky and it's not too niche, people with a large follower base see it, they like it, and they tell their audience about it. Typically, you see this in the form of YouTube tutorials or showcases and stuff.

Then of course, once your project has been established as being popular and respected, then you can start talking about fame (popularity is a better term IMO).

A lot of it depends on the target audience of your project, how large it is, how easy to use it is, how useful it actually is, and there's elements of luck of course.

If you are starting work on a project of your own, you should never have to worry about any of these things. It sort of just happens, if it does at all.

Just talk nicely to people and show online something you're doing, it really just works.