How far can a viral tweet get you? Be careful what you wish for

Adam Koszary's 'absolute unit' sheep led to a job at Tesla, but his new boss, Elon Musk, has had less social media success - with one missive landing him in court

Twitter is a game with two objectives. The first is to scream your opinions at people who hold an identical set of opinions, in the mistaken belief that you are changing things. The second is to go viral. A viral tweet isn't just a dopamine hit of validation, it can also lead to crucial exposure. Your work - nay, your entire personality - is suddenly seen by millions of people, and opportunity undoubtedly follows.

Take Adam Koszary. Once, he was simply a programme manager and digital lead for the Museum of English Rural Life; tasked with trying to breathe life into an institution best known for its collections of walking sticks and wellington boots. But then, in April 2018, he called a big sheep an "absolute unit" in a tweet from the museum's official account. It was retweeted 31,100 times. Three days later, Tesla chief Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to the image of the sheep and, long story short, has now hired Koszary to run Tesla's social media.