#ProjectKris: How a House Party for 60 in Calgary Became a Worldwide Twitter Party for 870,000

In a lesson on internet virality, one teenager's single, hyper-local tweet became a worldwide phenomenon overnight.

Calgary high schooler Hunter Mills used Twitter last week to inform his neighbourhood friends of a house party his buddy Kris Morrey was hosting. It was dubbed #ProjectKris, a reference to the movie Project X—about a house party that spirals out of control—which was a decision that would prove very foretelling.

The youngster's tweet reached far more eyeballs that Hunter ever anticipated; intended for just his pals and their pals, the hashtag spread across Calgary like wildfire. It wasn't long before #ProjectKris was trending in countries all over the world, including Australia, Asia, and the Middle East.

Virtually overnight, a tweet and hashtag about a party for 60 boasted nearly one million impressions. "I don't even know what happened," Hunter told the Toronto Star. "The original party was supposed to be for about 60 people. But when I started tweeting, well, now it's going to be thousands... I think it's kind of cool. I'm just a 17-year-old kid and I'm getting worldwide attention from what I've started. It's just the power of social media."

So has the party been forced to shut down due to, quite literally, overwhelming interest? Hardly. While Calgary police are now on high alert, the party, as they say, must go on.

"It seems like everyone wants this party to happen, so we may as well have it," Hunter said. "It's just amazing how big it's gotten."

For obvious safety reasons, the party has been moved to a new location. One that, most likely, will not be tweeted.

Photo: Jeremy Nolais, Metro Calgary

Company:
Twitter
Location:
San Francisco, California, United States

Twitter is a privately funded startup with offices in the SoMA neighborhood of San Francisco, CA. Started as a side project in March of 2006, Twitter has grown into a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens—from breaking... more


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Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton Thomas

Knowlton is the managing editor of Techvibes. Based in Vancouver, Knowlton has been published in national publications and has also appeared on television and radio. Previously he was an editor for New Westminster weekly The Other Press and served on its board of directors. When not working, Knowlton enjoys rock climbing, hiking, and martial arts. more




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