Sliding in the DMs 101 with DT Jeremiah Clarke

UNC redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Jeremiah Clarke recently became Twitter famous for saying in an interview that he could teach a class on sliding in the DM’s. 

Jeremiah Clarke (@fat_melo) says he could 'teach a class' on the best ways to slide into a DM pic.twitter.com/vmNzQUqzux

— Carolina Football (@TarHeelFootball) September 7, 2016

So I reached out to the "DM King" to see if he could give us some pointers.

“It just happened that me and (reporter Taylor Vippolis from GoHeelsTV) were doing a video and it turned into something funny, then Twitter turned it into something more,” said Clarke. 

The interview was then featured on SportsCenter, ESPN’s His and Her’s Podcast, and received hundreds of likes and retweets on Twitter.

Sophomore linebacker Andre Smith said he was stunned when Clarke’s interview blew up. 

“I walked into the cafeteria and saw Jeremiah talking about sliding in DMs on ESPN," he said. "I was kind of surprised, but I knew Jeremiah is a little famous on Twitter anyway, so it was bound to happen.”

Junior defensive tackle Nazair Jones said he believes Clarke is qualified to teach a class on sliding in DM’s. 

My man's @fat_melo can teach a class on sliding into dm's and can help ya block other guys from sliding in ya girls dm's pic.twitter.com/83mhtcfLJf

— Matt Fryling (@FrylingM) October 2, 2016

“He’s been doing this for so long and has seen what works and what doesn’t work, so he has an idea of how females will react to the nonsense he DMs them,” he said.

Clarke says he has been sliding in DMs since Twitter and Instagram first enabled private messaging. And, according to Clarke, he’s thrived at it ever since. 

“I’ve successfully slid in a Victoria’s Secret model’s DMs, who lives in Miami," Clarke said. "I currently have her number, but I pissed her off because I thought she was a Catfish until she FaceTimed me.”

For many, the most difficult part of sliding into DMs is sending the first message. Clarke said if you are nervous about messaging someone, you have to be confident and remember to be yourself.

“You just gotta go in thinking that no one is out of your league and that you’ve got a shot with whoever you want to talk to,” Clarke said.

As for the content of the first message, Clarke believes a good opener is to make someone laugh.

“Make a joke or use a GIF or a funny picture," he said. "Spongebob GIFs are always the move.”

His preferred memes include the Steph Curry “Hey” bubble and the Marshawn Lynch “You know why I’m here.”  

Clarke now also uses a meme created of himself that says “Sliding in the DMs 101 with Jeremiah Clarke.”

If the conversation ever comes to a lull, Clarke suggests joking around or asking about the person. However, he says, if the conversation is still dry after that, you just have to know when to walk away.

If your goal is to eventually meet up with the person, Clarke recommends getting someone’s number when the conversation is really flowing.

“You don’t want to be too forward, but you don’t want to wait too long to ask for their number either," he said. "My go-to line is, ‘Should we take this to your phone or mine?’ It really works for the most part.”

If you get curved, Clarke advocates being courteous and polite.

“I’ve slid in some girl’s DMs for them to tell me they had boyfriends," he said. "You just slide right back out slowly and quietly." 

"You win some, you lose some but you live to slide another day.”

@noni_ski

swerve@dailytarheel.com