How to Grow on X using Reddit and YouTube using Content Curation Strategy

Trung Phan built an enormous following (~726.7K followers) on X by doing something counterintuitive: curating Reddit threads instead of creating original content.

His method is simple. Find compelling Reddit discussions, rephrase the answers as X threads, and watch them go viral.

He executed this strategy repeatedly, turning obscure Reddit conversations into viral X moments.

But Trung isn't alone.

Aadit Sheth (~523.4K followers) took the same principle and applied it to YouTube, extracting insights from YouTube videos or just screenshotting the said video and transforming them into engaging X tweets.

Countless other influencers have used TikTok, LinkedIn, and other sites to blow up on X.

Curation vs. Creation: The Hybrid Growth Model

The pattern is identical, but the source changes: use a platform that isn't your target, curate its best content, and grow where you want to grow.

For example:

• Post hilarious LinkedIn content on X

• Share obscure Reddit threads in a YouTube video

• Think about TikTok channels to post on Substack Notes

Most creators feel trapped by the "create 24/7" treadmill. This strategy breaks that cycle.

There's a subreddit for everything. A YouTube channel for every niche.

High-quality content already exists—vetted by communities, refined through comments, and proven to resonate.

The 2-3 Posts Per Week Framework

Successful curators like Trung and Aadit maintain consistent presence with just 2-3 curation posts per week, while creating original content the remaining days.

Each post follows a repeatable formula:

• Find the gem (Reddit thread or YouTube video)

• Rephrase it for X audience

• Add your perspective and ship it

The work isn't creative—it's editorial. No need to generate new ideas. No production overhead. Just find what works and amplify it for a new audience.

You can sustain this indefinitely:

• There will always be a Reddit thread worth sharing

• There will always be a YouTube video worth extracting

• There will always be an audience on X waiting to discover it

After all, the best growth strategy is the one that doesn't feel like a strategy at all—just curation, sharing, and compounding results.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

Brilliant observation!

Subscriptions means more people are getting rich and have extra money to spend.

2/

Never trust a man's words. Always trust their actions.

Tracking data is a good way to do that.

3/

Setting up a process takes exponential time but once it's set up, then you can easily fill them up in one click and everybody does fill them up easily unless it can be automated.

And the sentiment is everybody uses evals for deciphering between good and bad AI responses. They are like tests in the post-LLM era.

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