Shehroz Shabbir started off using social media for his own amusement, but little did he know that he would ever end up having 23.4K Twitter followers.
I had the pleasure of talking to Shehroz aka “themcbang” and pick his brain about why he loves Twitter, why he uses his social media to do good in the world, and how he plans to further his following.
Tell me a bit about yourself? School? Work? Hobbies? Future goals?
I attend Ryerson University, where I also work as the Faculty of Arts Director. My hobbies include working out, playing sports, attending and organizing social charitable events, and overall just having a good time with people around me. My future goals include becoming the President of the Ryerson Student Union by next year and creating more content on my social media platforms to raise awareness on issues that are not being discussed enough.
What are you studying and what do you plan on doing after convocation?
I’m currently in my fourth year in the program of Politics and Governance. After convocation I plan on either going to law or graduate school to further improve my credentials.
When did you start using social media? And why?
To be honest there was no specific motivator for me to start using social media. It was just a common growing trend that allowed individuals to express themselves alongside their views, so like everyone else I made one too.
Twitter has to be my favorite social media app. Not only because it’s the platform where I have the most followers, but it allows me stay updated with my peers and issues around the world. It also allows me to efficiently convey messages better than any other app.
When was it when you got “twitter famous?” Was it a specific tweet(s)?
It was around the later years of high school where I felt as if my followers were much more compared to my peers. Though I didn’t think much of it, people started recognizing me on the street and started asking for selfies, which really blew me away. I don’t believe it was just off of one or a few tweets. I believe the twitter “clout” came through and my tweets were relatable to other people’s lives. Also, just commenting on issues around the world alongside a humorous input resulted in many of my tweets going viral.
How many times a day do you tweet? Does it depend on what you see/are feeling on that day?
Yes, I believe its very subjective to my schedule. If I am busy or at work, I see myself using it less, but days where I do have the time, I do use it a lot more. I would say on average I send out approximately 10-20 tweets a day.
Do you use your social media professionally or personally?
It started as something personal, but as the “clout” continued to grow everyday, companies started reaching out to me and asked me to promote their products in return for free products and a sum of money as well. Ultimately I would say it’s a mix of both.
Was there a time where you used your social media for good?
Yes, all the time! I’ve organized a number of charity events such as a poetry slam to shed awareness on the 3 innocent Muslims who were killed in America. “Biryani 4 Burma” which was a dinner I organized to raise money for the people being affected by the genocide in Burma.
And now I am currently collecting jackets and other clothes to keep the homeless of our city warm from my followers to give to the less fortunate on our streets.
That is some great stuff! It’s evident that you use your social media for good, but why do you think social media in its entirety is important?
It’s important because we are currently living in the social media era. EVERYBODY uses some sort of social media platform no matter what the demographic, therefore, I believe it is the most powerful tool in the world today in regard to visual communication.
How did you come up with the name @themcbang? What’s its significance to you?
Honestly as funny as it might sound it was completely random. I still remember the day when I made the account and it was really because all other @ names were taken. I didn’t want any underscores or numbers in my @ so this was something that wasn’t. I did however used to work at McDonalds so maybe it was a subconscious decision haha!
Do you ever realize how many followers you have and if you do, does it make you feel weird or excited?
Haha yeah, I try to keep up and it does make me quite excited, but you must keep in mind that it’s not really about the followers, it’s about how many people are interacting with your content. People can even buy followers these days as well, so to me interaction matters more.
What do you hope to do with your social media in the future?
I hope to keep on using my platform for good, like creating charity events, enlightening peoples perspectives, making people laugh, etc. Interaction is very important to me, so I hope my followers continue to enjoy my content.
