# Gimmick Accounts Gimmick Accounts, also known as Novelty Accounts, are parody social media profiles that impersonate celebrities, corporations, fictional characters, and even inanimate objects. The format took shape on Twitter starting in 2007 and grew into a web-based performance art genre, producing viral hits like @BPGlobalPR and the fake Steve Jobs feed that once fooled major newspapers. ## Origin The earliest widely cited parody profile was Fake Steve Jobs (@_FakeSteveJobs), created on January 26, 2007 to mock the Apple CEO[3]. The account racked up tens of thousands of followers before going quiet in 2010, and by October 2012 had collected over 36,300 followers without a new tweet in two years[3]. Parody accounts started getting written up as a group soon after. On October 7, 2008, io9 published a round-up titled "Twitter Me This: Our Favorite Fake Twitter Feeds," calling out fake Michael Bay, Captain Picard, and Darth Vader accounts[5]. PC World followed on February 15, 2009 with "15 Fake and Funny Twitter Accounts," listing parody feeds for Chuck Norris, Nick Nolte, and William Shatner[6]. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** Unknown (format popularized by the @_FakeSteveJobs account, Jan 2007) - **Date:** 2007 ## Overview Gimmick Accounts, also called Novelty Accounts, are parody profiles built around a single conceit, usually impersonating a celebrity, brand, fictional character, or even an object or concept[2]. The humor comes from staying in character while riffing on current events, with the account writing tweets as if it were Darth Jobs, Darth Vader, a sentient appliance, or a corporate PR flack caught in a crisis[3]. The format thrives on short-form comedy writing, and most accounts live or die by how well the writer can hold the voice. Some are pure impression comedy, others double as satire aimed at the subject being impersonated, like fake PR teams needling the real company's talking points[1]. The Atlantic argued in 2012 that the lifespan of a satirical Twitter account is usually short, with most burning out once the news hook fades[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Gimmick Accounts? Gimmick Accounts, also known as Novelty Accounts, are parody social media profiles built around a single conceit, usually impersonating a celebrity, company, or fictional character on Twitter[2]. ### Where did Gimmick Accounts come from? The earliest widely cited example is Fake Steve Jobs (@_FakeSteveJobs), created on January 26, 2007 to mock the Apple CEO[3]. ### What does Gimmick Accounts mean? The term refers to a profile whose entire posting identity is a bit, with the writer staying in character to produce comedy or satire about the subject they're impersonating[2]. ### How do you use Gimmick Accounts? Creators typically pick a target, like a brand in a scandal or a famous figure, and write short tweets in that target's voice, as Josh Simpson did with @BPGlobalPR during the 2010 BP oil spill[1]. ### Is Gimmick Accounts still popular? The format is a classic of Twitter comedy, though The Atlantic noted back in 2012 that most individual parody accounts have short lifespans tied to the news cycle[4]. ## References 1. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/us/10twitter.html]() 2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gimmick%20Accounts]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gimmick-accounts]() 4. [http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/10/whats-the-half-life-of-satire-in-the-age-of-twitter/263239/]() 5. [http://io9.com/5060169/twitter-me-this-our-favorite-fake-twitter-feeds]() 6. [http://www.pcworld.com/article/159492/fake_funny_twitter.html]() 7. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jun/27/daily-mail-twitter-jobs-iphone-mistake]() 8. [http://thenextweb.com/uk/2010/06/27/dailyfail-newspaper-quotes-fake-steve-jobs-tweet-in-headline-about-iphone-4-recall/]() 9. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/twitter-accidentally-verifies-fake-hoobastank]() 10. [http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/twitter-parody-accounts-where-are-they-now.html]() 11. [http://blog.twitter.com/2009/06/not-playing-ball.html]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/gimmick-accounts Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library