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1⃣ First of all, tell me how your main channel @iDubTG was born. What was your original goal? Did anyone encourage or push you to create it?
At the time, I felt like most Telegram news channels were reporting on the same pieces of information, and that there was nothing really "exclusive" that set any other channel apart. Furthermore, speed and grammar was a major issue I saw in channels back then. My original goal when it was first created was to have Telegram news, but focused on speed. As time went on, "exclusive" news became a large part of it, posting information that no other channel had, as at my young age back then, I saw this as a brilliant idea. No one really pushed me to create It, it was just a spur of the moment idea.
2⃣ What do you think set your news/leak channel apart from others covering Telegram?
As the channel progressed, many people, and also a "secret" society on Telegram that I will for all intents and purposes in this interview call the "Telegram FBI", most likely started to notice that my channel began posting very vague posts, some with images, and some with random bold texts or meanings.
These were called "hints", which would hint at new / upcoming features on Telegram much before other news channels did, and back then, my young optimist self thought I was a genius that just invented an infallible news system. I couldn't have been more wrong. These "hint" posts, got more ambitious as time went on. Some of the news I was considering posting at the time was very risky, but certainly not as risky as some other channels were going about it. The majority of leak channels back then would fail spectacularly, as they couldn't help being noisy about what they discovered, and also sharing what they discovered in harmful ways.
Back then, certain channels would post entire full videos from private clients detailing leaked features in their entirety. Most channels that did this either stopped, or caused the clients they were using to be revoked, and the restrictions made tighter, as many people fled to using these clients, but the clients were made for bug testing, not to gawk at unreleased features. I thought that by not directly showing the features, I could get away with not being interrogated by the "Telegram FBI". I was very wrong.
It was a very wild time for me back then, I started making posts without considering the risk it caused, which got me into a lot of trouble. I got heavily questioned into how on earth I was predicting and hinting at features on my channel like some goddamn sooth sayer, and where exactly I was obtaining this information from. iDubTG started to get subscribers from certain people, and also some from the "Telegram FBI", so it was clear they knew I had more than I was letting on at the time.
But don't worry, Telegram FBI! If you're reading this interview, I haven't been involved in the community for over 2 years. I literally know nothing. I couldn't even tell you the latest features of Telegram.
3⃣ Which post are you the most proud of, and which one gave you the most satisfaction after publishing it?
This is an easy question to answer. The post I made regarding the stories feature link was hands down the best one, as no channel had reported or caught any sign of the stories feature. It got spread everywhere and basically boosted my channel completely, giving me motivation to post more.
4⃣ Have you ever worked on any side projects that you never officially released?
Technically, yes. I was going to post a ARG analogue style horror on my channel wherein I gradually revealed the existence of the stories feature, but I never completed it. Additionally, there was some expansion ideas I had for the iDubTG Podcast that never happened, such as inviting more guests and doing interviews.