The Story Behind Sonic The Hedgehog's Amazing Twitter Account

If you are a fan of social media and video games, you may have come into contact with the excellent Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account. The account, which has over five million followers, offers some hilarious and informative Sonic content--from memes to official announcements and more. The individual running the account, Aaron Webber, is now moving on to greener pastures. But before he leaves his Sonic-shaped Twitter throne, Webber briefly discussed how the whole account came to be in the midst of Sonic's worst year ever.

Webber first began working at Sega in August 2008, eventually taking on the company's brand identity in the following October to help "grow and manage communities surrounding Sega games and properties" such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Phantasy Star. He left in June 2014 but returned in May 2015 as Sega's social media manager. This year, 2015, was "a tough spot" for Sonic's brand. Many of his titles during the 2010s--like Sonic Free Riders, Sonic: Lost World, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, and others--were either lukewarm releases or critical flops. According to Webber, "If things didn't turn around for Sonic, and soon, [he] was worried about what the future held."

And so, Webber started posting whatever came to mind that would be beneficial to the brand. "Fun content, memes, references you wouldn't expect from an official account--the conversation had to change, and I was confident that we could change it," Webber wrote on Twitter.

It seemed to work. Webber stated that the Sonic the Hedgehog account grew rapidly after he took over social media management duties in 2015. "Within a day, the account had jumped 30,000 followers, and it just kept growing... The goal was to make you laugh, and to try and embody some of Sonic's old '90s attitude along the way." The account now has well over 5.8 million followers. And after five years with Sega running social media for the company's infamous Blue Blur, Webber is moving on to a "new position within Sega."

Though he's leaving his Sega social media chair, Webber said that things "already changed hands many months back." If you notice any changes with the Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account, Webber is confident you will like them.

Webber thanked a few people for the opportunities afforded to him, particularly Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka and Sega SVP Yusuke Suai for "believing in an unprecedented pitch for a pixel Sonic game that would grow to become Sonic Mania." He also mentioned Sonic Mania artist Tyson Hesse for always being reliable, "whether creating animations or dropping everything to help with a certain film." Hesse helped redesign Sonic for his action-adventure comedy Sonic the Hedgehog, which we scored an 8/10.

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