Twitter Puts SAE Atlanta Student's Tweet On Billboard

BUCKHEAD, GA — There’s power in the keyboard, and that’s exactly what SAE Institute Atlanta student Kenny Jones discovered when he tweeted a question to Twitter directly. “How do I get my tweets to be on a billboard?!?!??” The August 2019 tweet fell on his official Twitter 10-year anniversary month, and on Monday he was in for a surprise.

A copy of the exact tweet was plastered onto a billboard in Buckhead, at 3081 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta. The Boston native, who has lived in Atlanta since 2003, learned about it when Twitter messaged him directly. The company retweeted his reaction, which had been shared 464 times as of Monday.

“Twitter put my tweet on a billboard in BUCKHEAD of all places!!!!! I cannot wait to go physically see this for myself today!" Jones posted. "I’m literally about to cry. This has made being on Twitter for 10 years so much more worth it.”

He told Patch that he was in “complete shock” when he found out about the billboard.

“I did not think they would even notice,” Jones said. “I mean this is THE official Twitter account. They probably get hundreds of thousands of tweets directed at them, so I figured mine would get lost in the music. But when they hit me up, I freaked out and could not believe I would be so lucky they would personally reach out to me.”

What prompted Jones to even tag the social media giant in the tweet was seeing another profile user’s tweet on a billboard. He said he took a shot to see if they’d help him learn how to do the same.

“I figured they wouldn’t because they always got people hitting them up, and I was shocked when they [direct messaged] me,” Jones said .

Since the tweet and billboard, Jones said the number of his followers has grown. He already had 99,000 followers, but Twitter also retweeted his tweet to its 56 million followers. Jones said he’s gained more than 200 followers so far in the first day “and counting.”

“I’m always happy to get new followers. My Twitter profile is hilarious, and I hope more people can see my humor.”

He is studying at SAE Atlanta to become a sound engineer. He’s a musician and plays the drums, guitar and bass, and he is also learning how to produce his own music. Jones said his original focus was to become an actor, and he made some featured appearances in movies; but his acting career didn’t take off the way he wanted to see it, so he redirected his focus on his other love, music.