A funny thing happened in December 2019: A tweet thread I wrote went a little viral.

And it led basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal to send me a personal video message.

Though I had no expectation of this result, I did try to maximize the possibility for a response.

I just didn’t expect Twitter to do so much for me, too.

So, in the interest of helping others possibly achieve the same, here’s what I learned.

It started with a desire.

For the past few years, my dad had a request: “I want you to write a letter to Shaq. Show him this cartoon. It’s funny.”

My dad is a die-hard Lakers fan. The only reason he wanted to show Shaq this old Boston Globe cartoon was because it was “cute” and “funny.” He genuinely just wanted to share it with Shaq.

He asked me, the journalist daughter, because I’m sure he thought I had the skills to find Shaq’s address.

As any decent daughter would, I promptly put it off. Year after year.

Why would Shaq want to see this? The cynic in me thought.

And would a snail mail actually get to him, even if I got an address?

Guilt. Then, a realization

This request became something that weighed on me.

My dad persisted. Though he also never made me feel guilty about not doing it. He just kept asking.

So, finally, I started to write a letter.

And as I wrote, I realized it was a story about my dad’s lifelong fandom of the Lakers. The cartoon was just the manifestation of what he knew of Shaq — that the legendary star would be the type of guy who would find this funny. Not strange.

The story was about an old man who wanted to share a laugh with someone he admires.

It’s relatable. And totally human.

I chose Twitter

I was reticent about posting it on such a public platform because I rarely write about my family. They are not on social media and they are private people.

However, I knew (thanks to all my social media training) this was the best and quickest way to reach Shaq.

Here’s why:

1. I knew I could tag him, so that if he didn’t see it, maybe his team would.

2. I hoped that people who saw it would retweet. I didn’t count on it or ask for it. If it happened, I wanted it to be organic. (Ok, it was a Twitter test).

3. I knew I wanted to post it on a weekday morning, after Christmas (it wasn’t a Christmas ask) but before the new year (personal deadline).

So I broke the short letter up into a thread and used photos I had taken of my dad and the cartoon.

Also, don’t underestimate the power of a good photo.

Before all this, I, of course, followed Shaq on all the social channels. (Did you know he has a LinkedIn?)

Twitterati took over

At first, I was retweeted by my friends and fellow journalists who knew sports writers. This was already a boon.

Then the likes and retweets started to grow.

I heard from people who knew people who worked with Shaq, and people who do work with him!

I heard from someone who works for Twitter!

I heard from someone who works for the Lakers!

I liked every comment on the thread, I liked every retweet, I commented on a few.

It was so heartwarming. Some people wrote that the story made them cry.

“Why you got to make me cry while I’m at work?,” wrote @CourtofBBall. “This is amazing. Your Dad should be nothing but proud of the amazing thoughtful person you are. And I hope @SHAQ sees this because I’m sure he would enjoy it just as much as every person in these comments have.”

Some shared sweet stories of their own fathers.

“Oh Kathy, please keep us posted,” wrote @DebbieCulwell. “My dad and I were like that with football. We’d watch college games on our B/W TV every Saturday when I was a child.”

Others just wanted Shaq to come through.

In the course of 7 hours, my thread had nearly 4,000 likes and about 800 retweets.

Then … Shaq retweeted it, writing: “Thank you Mr. Li for being a loyal fan and especially for the awesome drawing.”

Then, a few days later, I got this video message.

My dad thought this was “so cool.”

7 takeaways

I’m not saying that this is the formula for getting a famous person’s attention or having a tweet go kinda viral.

I do think this helped sprinkle my thread with some Twitter magic dust.

1. It was a story about the human condition of fandom. Almost anyone can relate to someone — even an 89-year-old Chinese man (yeah, I got his age wrong, sorry dad!) — who wants to share something with a celebrity he loves. When you’re telling a story, focus on the emotion you’re conveying. Gifted storyteller Tom Hallman Jr. of the Portland Oregonian recently told the Society for Features Journalism conference to “use the internal compass that’s in our heart.” Trust how we see the world, he said.

2. My tweet thread had photos. Visuals, especially faces, really help tell a story.

3. I tagged two accounts: Shaq and the Lakers, hoping to reach those followers. I didn’t overtag, for fear of seeming desperate.

4. I posted on a weekday morning, before 10 a.m. (personal theory: my followers are mostly weekday Twitter users and mornings are when they have more time and are most likely to see it).

5. I didn’t tweet and let it be. I stayed active and engaged throughout the day.

6. I also shared the tweet on my other social channels (Instagram story, Facebook and LinkedIn posts).

7. There was a payoff! When Shaq retweeted my thread, I shared that both as a new tweet and added it to the original thread. It was satisfying to the people following the story.

I’m still in disbelief about the whole thing.

And my dad was right, Shaq is the type of person who would find this funny.

So if you find yourself with a good story to tell, go for it and have fun!