John Click

Originally published as part of the Work Samples section on johnclicks.com. This is the canonical Blog Posts DB record.

When I took over our brand's custodianship of our Twitter account we only had a few hundred followers, but I knew, right in the midst of the summer of 2021, that Project N95 needed to have a presence in the public square of discourse over these issues, between policy makers, doctors, nurses, epidemiologists, virologists and the members of the public we sought to serve.

I knew that we had to lean into our messaging, into what people wanted to know, and engage forcefully in the growing debate about COVID-19 policy, public health policy, and even just individual personal safety choices.

As the CDC and other public leaders saw their trust atrophy, the daily activity I drove for us on Twitter, in concert with the leadership I provided our social media team of invaluable volunteer contributors, helped us earn a verification tag and saw our following grow to over 38,000 by the end of 2021.

That led to major news outlets like NPR, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Scientific American featuring Project N95 prominently as a trustworthy source for N95 masks, something that continues to this day as members of the public seek mask protection from apocalyptic wildfire smoke.

What Worked

Leaning into the debate, not away from it. When the CDC began softening its masking guidance, we doubled down on the science. We didn't try to be diplomatic about it — we were clear that masking works, that N95s are superior to cloth masks, and that the public deserved access to accurate information.

Engagement over broadcasting. I replied to nearly every substantive mention. When epidemiologists or doctors quoted our data, I amplified their work. When members of the public asked questions, I answered them personally from the org account. Twitter's algorithm rewards engagement, and we had genuine engagement because we were genuinely useful.

Earned media over paid media. We never ran a single paid ad. Every piece of media coverage — NPR, NYT, CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, Scientific American — was earned. Journalists found us because we were the credible voice in the space. The Twitter presence made us findable; the product (verified, affordable N95s) made us quotable.

Speed. When Omicron hit at the end of 2021, we were already positioned. Our following was built, our credibility was established, and when the public suddenly needed N95s urgently, we were the first result people found.

This work preceded my current focus on agentic engineering, but the lesson — that systems which show up consistently build trust that compounds over time — applies to AI governance just as much as it does to public health communications.