The social media account belonging to Roaring Kitty, aka Keith Gill, began posting memes on Sunday, May 12, which may have kicked off a rise in the value of GameStop Corporation GME and other meme stocks that previously soared in value in 2021.
While the meme stocks saw increases in their value, the number of followers and subsequent advertising revenue for the X account of Roaring Kitty also rose.
What Happened: Gill was a key figure in the short squeeze storyline of GameStop in 2021 and could be playing hero again for retail traders and those betting against hedge funds and short sellers.
The Roaring Kitty X account had 470,400 followers prior to the posting of a meme on Sunday, May 12. The account gained 61,630 followers on Sunday.
Here's a look at the follower growth over the last week as shared by Social Blade.
Monday: 532,143, +61,630 gained from Sunday
Tuesday: 918,358, +386,215
Wednesday: 1,252,609, +334,215
Thursday: 1,293,598, +40,989
Friday: 1,304,537, +10,939
At the time of writing, Roaring Kitty has 1,317,667 followers on X, which means he has gained 847,267 followers since Sunday. This represents a gain of 180% from Sunday in follower count.
Social Blade ranks Roaring Kitty as the 8,442nd most followed account on X.
One thing that remains a mystery is if Gill is the person posting or if his account was hacked or sold off to someone else. Gill previously did live streams on YouTube and has yet to reveal his face three years later as the account suddenly became active.
Related Link: Who Is Roaring Kitty? Why Does His Return To Social Media Matter For GameStop Stock?
Advertising Revenue: Since buying X, formerly Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022 Elon Musk has made a commitment to pay out a portion of advertising revenue to users who are part of the X Premium or Verified Organization programs.
Many have calculated the payout at around $10 per one million impressions on X.
Musk said this isn't accurate as the calculation isn't exact.
"It's not exactly per impression. What matters is how many ads were shown to other verified users. Only verified users count, as it is otherwise trivial to game the system with bots," Musk previously said.
With an estimate of $10 per one million impressions, the first meme posted by Roaring Kitty on Sunday would turn into around $270 based on 27 million impressions.
Here's a look at the potential earnings for the X account during the week.
Sunday: one post, 27 million impressions, $270
Monday: 12 posts, around 47.2 million impressions, $472
Tuesday: 12 posts, around 32.3 million impressions, $323
Wednesday: heavier posting but less impressions per, around 24 million impressions, $240
Thursday: heavier posting but less impressions per, around 18 million impressions, $180
Friday: to be determined, but less impressions per, estimate of 15 million impressions, $150
The figures above include estimates based on the number of posts and average number of impressions for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Taking the six days into account and an estimate of $10 per million impressions, the X account of Roaring Kitty has made around $1,635 for the week.
While this pales in comparison to the amount Roaring Kitty made buying GameStop stock and options back in 2021, it's not a bad return for posting memes and video clips on X daily.
Photo: izzuanroslan via Shutterstock
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