SGE Logo

Dissing Duolingo to 60M views and 800K bookmarks

43.5M views just this year, 838K bookmarks, and 110K shares. Language-learning app Airlearn operates over 27 accounts: T…
SGE Team

43.5M views just this year, 838K bookmarks, and 110K shares.

Language-learning app Airlearn operates over 27 accounts:

Their 3 most viral videos all share the same hook and format:

  • Each video is under 10 seconds (typically 7 or 8 seconds).
  • Videos feature creators smiling or posing directly at the camera.
  • They use long, engaging texts that criticize Duolingo, encouraging viewers to switch to an app focused on conversational skills.

The strategy is entirely about leveraging Duolingo’s flaws to trigger viewers. Then, Airlearn is recommended in the comments.

Example:

“Tell me why I spent a whole year on Duolingo trying to learn Korean, yet I couldn’t speak a single sentence,” followed by “But I can have conversations after just 2 weeks on another app, probably because it doesn’t waste time teaching meaningless phrases.”

They purposely avoid mentioning Airlearn directly in their videos to boost engagement and provoke comments like these:

They likely engineer some comments using other accounts linked to their app, but the strategy clearly works.

All top-performing videos heavily rely on repeating and exploiting this one successful format.

Airlearn also has Spanish ambassadors (based in the U.S.) achieving impressive results using the same technique in another language: @languagepracticew

The results speak for themselves:

Each ambassador runs between 195 and 316 videos, forming a fully operational and well-established network.

Their massive engagement—especially bookmarks and shares—is mostly driven by directly “dissing” Duolingo.

Discover all their accounts in this Shortimize collection:

https://app.shortimize.com/c/2b10C3yQgg26Ax

Premium preview

All You Need to Go Viral

Pro View dashboard

Your growth strategy command center

Detailed Analysis

Advanced breakdowns of viral content

Hundreds of Apps

Competitors, campaigns and viral formats

Newcomers

Spot rising apps before everyone else

Opinions

Deep dives from growth operators

Thousands of Accounts

A curated competitive research database

The Growth Lab

Premium newsletter, live events and Q&A

Niche-Specific Growth Guides

Fresh playbooks delivered every month

Choose a Premium billing plan
Monthly
$29.99/month
Billed monthly
All premium research
Pro View + AI search
Apps and account database
Best value
Annual
$18.33/month
$220 billed once a year
Save $140/year (39%)
All premium research
Pro View + AI search
Apps and account database
Ambassador Marketing Guide preview
Annual member bonusIncluded
The Ambassador Marketing Guide
$649 valueSee the Guide
Cancel anytime
Secure checkout · Powered by Stripe