As many Torontonians are aware, Norm Kelly has risen to a certain level of social media fame over the last year. As a self proclaimed Drake fan, he constantly lets his followers know just how much he likes the Canadian Rap Legend. The height of Norm’s fandom came to life last year when he met Drake at Ryerson’s annual outdoor frosh concert. During the face-to-face, Drake said something to Norm we have all been thinking recently: “You’re my hero, man”. Since then, this duo has become the ‘best of friends.’ So forget Taylor Swift’s Squad, Norm and Drake are our version of friendship goals.

It all started with a tweet: Norm started tweeting in July 2010. His first tweet: “Hello Twitter world. The Kelly is among you!” pretty much set the tone for everything that followed.

Norm proved that despite his age, he could reinvent himself and create a powerful social media presence. However, as he will tell anyone who asks, becoming a social media celebrity doesn’t happen overnight. Norm pays attention to what’s trending and also has pages of handwritten tweets he drafts at home. The part we like the most? That he actually keeps track of analytics and regularly checks mentions on Twitter daily.

74 year old Norman “Norm” Kelly is a city councillor in Toronto, specifically Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt, and former deputy mayor of the city. He was born in Toronto in 1941 to an Irish family. He was the youngest of the bunch, and had 4 older brothers and sisters. Norm used to teach high school history, and shortly after was appointed head of the history department at UCC in 1973. A year later, he thought to he could be a pretty good leader himself, so he ran for public office while teaching full time. He’s served the city for decades, and is one of the more popular politicians in Toronto. Most of us know him through @norm , his Twitter handle, where he wreaks havoc on the web. He has fans of all ages, who adore him for his hilarious and sarcastic tweets. By now, most of us have seen him have Twitter beefs with rapper Meek Mill, meme wars with fellow tweeters and celebs, along with priceless comebacks.

People always wonder if Norm has someone “ghostwriting” his tweets. While he admits to stealing tweet ideas shamelessly from his 25 year old assistant (who also helps him with a handful of tweets), his stepson, and even some Ryerson students, he does in fact run his own account.

Not only has Norm established a following on social media, but he has also extended his brand into some cool collaborations. Local apparel company Peace Collective is known for collaborating with well known Toronto photographers and creatives. However, their choice to collaborate with Norm Kelly really solidified him as an icon among Toronto Millennials. He also sells t-shirts that say “We The Norm” on them. Kelly is really succeeding at turning his online success into the success of himself as a brand — he even headlined this week at Social Media Week Toronto.

“I had no goals for the Twitter account other than to have fun, and now it’s big. Now it’s work.” — Norm Kelly

Here are some of Nuscreen’s favourite @norm tweets: