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My Experience in Building a Self-Media Account
From 0 to 100K Followers: A Real Journey
Hello everyone, I'm Yupi. Just joined Platform X, and my follower count has already surpassed a few thousand. Honestly, I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I’m grateful for everyone supporting my dreams 🌹.
Many friends have asked me how I did it?
Aside from my existing influence on domestic platforms, the key lies in the method, which isn’t difficult and can be achieved by anyone. Moreover, this is essentially how I built my accounts across various platforms.
Seeing the sudden surge in followers reminded me of the time when I went from 0 to 100K followers. Today, I want to share this story and some practical tips on building a self-media account.
Whether you’re looking to promote your product through self-media or build a personal brand, these experiences can help you.
Starting with 18 Views
During the special period in 2020, I was interning remotely at TX from home. One day, while scrolling through Douyin (TikTok), I noticed that there weren’t many programmers sharing technical content. Perhaps because Douyin is more entertainment-focused? Or maybe the limitations of short videos make it hard to explain technical concepts in just a few words?
I’m someone who loves trying new things, and since creating short videos isn’t too costly, I started making them in my spare time.
During college, I independently developed a product for interview preparation — Interview Monarch (yes, this is the prototype of my current product with hundreds of thousands of users — Interview Duck). So, my first Douyin account was named “Interview Monarch,” focusing on analyzing frequently asked programming interview questions, which also helped me secure more opportunities during the spring recruitment season.
Once I started making short videos, I realized it wasn’t as simple as I thought.
First, the production cost: making short videos isn’t just about filming with a phone or recording a screen. Beyond the topic and basic content, many elements require meticulous attention, such as the cover, title, tags, first impression, and opening. I would draft scripts, refine and validate the content, and then record. The first video took me three to four hours to complete.
Hard work pays off! Guess what the final view count was?
I remember it clearly — after a day, the view count was a whopping 18!
I expected low views as a newcomer, but not THIS low!
Of course, it was disappointing, but it was my first video; and my goal was pure — to help others while solidifying my own knowledge.
So, I didn’t give up. I persisted for about a month, updating at least one video daily, and even three videos on weekends!
Although each video only garnered a few dozen views, this month-long effort earned me my first batch of followers — around 100, with dozens being my friends. The highest-viewed video reached 1,800.
That’s why I love the number 18 — it holds significant meaning for me.
The First Viral Video: Harsh Criticism
One day, I paused to reflect: was this persistence still meaningful?
I watched videos from other creators and realized that authentic stories resonate the most.
So, I registered a new Douyin account, the current one — [Programmer Yupi], and for the first time, shared my programming learning and job-seeking journey through short videos.
The result? The views and likes exceeded my expectations. The next morning, I woke up to 99+ messages, and I was thrilled.
However, when I opened the comments section, my mood plummeted. The comments were filled with skepticism, disdain, and even insults. Many said, “Another marketing account,” or “Douyin is full of talent, fooling outsiders.”
Well, I guess I now know why the video went viral — even though the feedback was negative, the engagement rate was incredibly high.
I remember one critical comment received a massive number of likes, almost matching the likes on my video. Looking back, I’m grateful to those who criticized me, both then and now.
After this video, I started thinking: if I wanted to share programming knowledge, perhaps I needed a more engaging, relatable, and acceptable approach. While creating content can be self-satisfying, making it enjoyable for the audience is a win-win.
So, I began sharing high-quality, user-friendly programming resources and some tips I had accumulated. During this time, I continuously learned video creation techniques, analyzed data, optimized metrics, and drew inspiration from others’ videos.
I recall a quote from my computer science professor in college: What is 1.01 raised to the power of 365? A small daily improvement leads to significant change. The scary part is blindly persisting without making any adjustments.
My First Livestream: Awkward Beginnings
Next, I tried my first livestream. The screen showed a computer, and there were about a dozen viewers. I didn’t know what to talk about or what these viewers were watching, so I kept repeating, “Hello everyone, this is my first livestream.” Surprisingly, some people stayed.
Later, I persisted with nightly livestreams. By interacting with viewers and discussing programming, I experienced diverse perspectives, maintained positive engagement with fans, and gained more followers.
And would you believe it? I’m an introvert (ISTJ). Friends who’ve seen my company rant videos can probably tell.
Through relentless effort, my Douyin account gradually gained traction, with steady growth in followers and views. While Douyin is more entertainment and lifestyle-focused, I’ve carved out a niche for myself and made many friends.
Persistence also brought another change: the skepticism and insults in the comments dwindled. Of course, even now, many people still criticize me, but isn’t that normal? I’m not money — not everyone will love me. Seeing that my persistence has helped more students and received recognition is enough for me.
Expanding to Multiple Platforms
With a foundation on Douyin, I ventured into other platforms like WeChat Official Accounts and Bilibili, all under the name “Programmer Yupi.”
When I started on Bilibili, my first viral video was, as you might guess, my personal journey from learning programming to landing a job at a big tech company. I don’t remember the exact follower count, but this video essentially kickstarted my account. What I remember most is that some viewers noticed I’m a “crooked-mouth warrior,” haha.
However, gaining followers on WeChat Official Accounts wasn’t as easy. Initially, I naively thought that posting more articles would attract followers, so I set a goal of one article per day. The result? Low quality, low readership, and minimal follower growth.
Soon, I realized this approach was doomed and needed to change.
So, I immersed myself in communities, learned from successful predecessors, sought collaborations, and republished content across multiple platforms. I leveraged Douyin to drive traffic to my WeChat Official Account. I’ll share more details about my journey from 0 to 100K followers on WeChat later.
After about a year, I reached 100K followers across Douyin (78K), WeChat Official Account (18K), and Bilibili — achieving my first small goal.
So, by now, you probably know what the method I mentioned at the beginning is, right?
Yes, it’s sharing authentic experiences.
From 18 views on a short video -> abandoning and restarting -> my first small success -> persistent livestreaming -> expanding to articles and long videos, what I’ve been doing is sharing my real experiences, thoughts, and feelings with everyone.
Now, on Platform X, seeing my friend @Programmer Xiaohui rapidly gain followers by sharing authentic experiences further solidified my confidence in this approach.
I believe this is something everyone can do. You don’t need fancy words or a polished article structure — just share your story sincerely.
Your experience is unique, and the rest? Leave it to the algorithm.
Below, I’ll share some practical tips on building a self-media account based on my journey.
Tips for Building a Self-Media Account
- Authenticity is Key
From my own experience and observing others online, I’ve found that the more authentic and natural you are, the more likely you are to go viral.
Good content is the foundation of everything. Authenticity is even more valuable in the AI era. Don’t imitate others — your experiences are the most unique material.
- Lower Expectations, Keep Taking Action
I know many friends feel anxious about traffic, thinking their work isn’t seen or appreciated.
But I want to say: Persistence will lead to success.
When I started my WeChat Official Account, my readership was in the single digits. But after over 100 days of livestreaming until midnight after work, I broke through the bottleneck.
The best way to deal with anxiety is to lower expectations and keep taking action. I really like the phrase “Speak Less, Do More.”
- Make It Fun
For advanced programming techniques or full tutorials, those who need them will actively search for them. You don’t need to convert text into videos. Especially in the AI era, some efficiency-focused individuals might skip long videos and use AI tools to summarize content instead.
Make your content light and fun, allowing people to learn new things in their spare time. I try to ensure each video provides some knowledge, even if it’s about “my server being attacked” — such experiences can help others avoid pitfalls.
- AI is Just a Tool; Creativity is Key
Now, with AI and various workflows, you can quickly mass-produce content. While this can help you gain traction, there will inevitably be limitations because the simpler something is, the easier it is to replicate.
The key is to have your own creativity and uniqueness, though the cost of realizing creativity has become simpler.
- Take Action Now
Many people ask me, “I want to do self-media, but I don’t know how to start.”
My answer is: Don’t just think — try it out!
I dislike theoretical approaches — they’re easily forgotten. Instead, through practical experience, you’ll naturally learn and retain knowledge better. For example, being restricted once teaches you which banned words to avoid in your captions.
How to write titles, design covers, choose topics, analyze data, and optimize content — these are all learned through practice.
If you mess up, just start over!
My first account, “Interview Monarch,” was a failure, but that experience taught me invaluable lessons and was crucial for the success of my new account.
- Find Your Niche; Do What You’re Good At
Don’t compete with more specialized teams in a particular field. For example, I didn’t create dozens of hours of complete courses initially because training institutions are more professional.
My early positioning was clear: share authentic experiences + fun technical knowledge + recommend quality resources.
Finding your niche and doing what you’re good at is crucial.
Speaking of which, something that frustrated me was that during 2021-2022, I developed many interesting projects, only to find that viewers didn’t care whether I developed them — as long as they were useful or fun. Often, recommending others’ projects garnered more views than promoting my own.
- Time Management
I remember someone criticizing me, saying I must have a team behind me because how could one person do so much?
But at the time, I didn’t. I just used some time management techniques.
My ideal approach is to share insights and technologies I’ve learned at work, rather than starting from scratch with completely unfamiliar topics.
Someone asked where I find the time?
Truthfully, to do self-media, I gave up naps, gaming, and many social outings, and I stayed up late often. I estimate that 90% of people who say they don’t have time are spending it on gaming or chatting in groups. If you stop gaming, you’ll likely have enough time.
Moreover, once you treat self-media as a hobby rather than a task, gaining followers becomes much easier.
- Embrace Anxiety, Enjoy the Process
Q: Do you ever lack motivation while building your account?
A: Absolutely. That’s when you need to find some stimulation. Stay relaxed; being too deliberate won’t last.
Q: Do you ever feel anxious about data?
A: Definitely. I often compare myself to others and sometimes suspect I’m being throttled (though I still suspect it now, haha). But more often, I focus on the content itself, learning from others’ excellent work and narrowing the gap.
Finally, if you also want to do self-media, my advice is:
Don’t overthink it — post your first piece of content and tell people who you are.
Even if it only gets 18 views, it’s a start. At least you’ve planted a seed, right?
Joining Platform X and gaining followers so quickly isn’t necessarily a good thing for me, as I’m still a newbie here. I hope the veterans will go easy on me.
If you support me, I’ll be thrilled — thank you. If you DISS me and treat me like a “stinky dog,” I hope to break through the skepticism with future content. I’ll strive to share unique insights here, hoping to inspire everyone. Let’s grow together! 🚀
Recommended Resources
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Yupi’s AI Navigation Website: Comprehensive AI Resources, Latest AI News, Free AI Tutorials
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Programming Navigation Learning Circle: Learning Paths, Programming Tutorials, Practical Projects, Job Hunting Guide, Q&A
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Programmer Interview Cheat Sheet: Internship/Campus Recruitment/Social Recruitment High-Frequency Topics, Enterprise Question Analysis
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Programmer Resume Tool: Professional Templates, Rich Examples, Direct to Interviews
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1-on-1 Mock Interviews: Essential for Internship/Campus Recruitment/Social Recruitment Interviews to Land Offers