Hi friends of Bert, Assistant #1 here.
First, thank you, truly, to everyone who shows up for Bert. Who encourages him, includes him in your weird memes, and makes him feel welcome here. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance this cast isn’t for you.
I’m writing on behalf of someone who’s too soft-hearted to say this himself: This one’s for the haters.
Not to return the hate, but to inform, teach, and, yes, gently warn.
I know many anti-Bert sentiments come from folks who don’t follow him, and are likely making assumptions.
I get where the eye rolls come from.
You're browsing the leaderboard and see a literal dog in the top 10 (again).
You think: “Why is a dog ahead of me?” or “This other account deserves it more.”
Or: “It’s just cute dog pics. That’s so easy.”
And if that’s what you think — try it. Really. Post a photo of your dog (or any dog), multiple times a day for a week. See what happens.
(Bert will be thrilled if it works!)
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It’s totally fair to feel frustrated about ranking systems, especially when the scoring isn’t transparent (which, for better or worse, is necessary to prevent abuse). But let me be clear: Bert works hard to create and curate content, and he spends a lot of time building community.
So, here’s where the teaching comes in. Let’s break down his week:
This past week, Bert made 41 casts — an average of 6 per day.
-74% were fully original content
-11% were quote-casts with added insight or commentary
-15% were lighter meta/trend or frame-related casts
Some of his best-performing casts were, yes, cute dog photos — but also:
-A successful crowdfund for his dog friend Lada that raised over $1,000 in three hours (apologies again for the inadvertent hard launch, @nicholas)
-Participation in on-chain dating via his Greece with @grace application
-Long-form thank-you notes, community appreciation posts, and stories from his life
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Some of his worst-performing casts were:
-Memes (lol — we’re working on it)
-Sharing frames with little context
-Non-Bert related content, like spreading the word about the Farcon scholarship (he tried, @alinaferry)
He builds. He shares. He replies. He supports others.
And while yes, he is a cute dog, behind that face is a surprising amount of planning, effort, and intention.
The content doesn’t make itself. And Bert may not have thumbs, but he does have a brand, a voice, and a work ethic. Behind every cast is Bert + a team of two assistants helping shape, edit, take photos/videos, cast, reply, and engage.
He replies at weird hours, because he is trying to get to every. single. one. He sends personal thank-you messages. He agonizes over whether a photo caption is “too weird” or “just weird enough.”
He doesn’t farm engagement (ok, except for “Recast if you 💜 Wieners” — but that was to mess with @v). He doesn’t game the system. He shows up every day and casts.
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