Chad Ochocinco Talks Twitter with Emerson Undergrads

In October, Chad Ochocinco of the Patriots (and Dancing With the Stars, and Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch on VH1) told a social media class at Emerson that he’d come in and discuss his thoughts on Twitter, the social media platform that he’s leveraged to gain more than three million followers.

For those unfamiliar with Ochocinco’s no-holds-barred Twitter feed, it covers everything from third person anecdotes (“Ocho was still a virgin at 17”), to tips on relating to ladies out at bars (“Fellas if you’re headed out tonight, NEVER pass up buying a drink for the woman with a hair tie on her wrist…she’s thinking ahead”), to his discerning palate when it comes to ramen (“Chicken flavor all day brah”), to hard-hitting medical advice (“Erectile Dysfunction: Nature’s way of saying no hard feelings”).

Last night, Ochocinco made good on his word to Emerson and spoke to a class of about 40 students at All Star Sandwich Bar, a favorite spot of social media professor David Gerzof Richard. While Ochocinco is certainly, ahem, a bit strange, we have to hand it to him for chatting with students for over two hours (he ordered a tuna melt, sans relish), asking the class for advice, and picking up the $850 tab on an Amex black card. We headed over last night to get schooled, Ochocinco style — ahead, the takeaway.

You’ll have better luck finding love on Twitter than on a reality show. While Ochocinco made headlines for the show Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch on VH1, he didn’t end up with a lasting love, natch. Instead, he ended up meeting his fiancee, Evelyn Lozada of VH1 reality show Basketball Wives, on Twitter. The two met after having a random Twitter fight, he shared. Lozada said that the couple will select a couple of wedding attendees through Twitter as well.

The man likes nice kicks. The football pro recently tweeted a slew of photos of tricked out Christian Louboutin sneakers, and the pair he wore to All Star Sandwich bar didn’t disappoint: a pair of $995 Louboutin Alfies, complete with leopard print calf hair.

Follow him at the right time, and make some bank. Ochocinco paid his two millionth follower a $10,000 cash prize, and said that his three millionth follower has $20,000 coming their way. He’ll be announcing the winner shortly, on Twitter, obviously.

Want him to Tweet back at you? You have two options:
1. Leave it all to chance: Ochocinco said that since he gets so many responses to his tweets — per Gerzof Richard, Ochocinco gets a reply tweet every three seconds for a full 45 minutes after he sends out a tweet — that he randomly scrolls responses and replies to whoever is lucky enough to have their tweet graced by his mouse cursor.
2. There is another way, of course: “You have to be catchy,” he said.

He rarely makes it into Boston. In fact, Ochocinco’s foray into Inman Square marked only his second visit to the Boston/Cambridge area: “The first time, I got lost on Newbury Street,” he said.

He’s not a fantasy football fan. “I hate that shit,” he said, when Gerzof Richard asked him about it. Why? “I can’t help anybody with it right now,” he said, acknowledging his less-than-savory stats.

Twitter is the key to self-expression. “I can tweet with no filter, in a way that athletes would usually get chewed out for,” Ochocinco said. “I’m interesting, I think.”