Following Someone For A Follow Back And Then Unfollowing Them

Come on we are better humans than this.

Follow for follow or like for like is a common technique used by social media creators to gain an audience. As the name suggests if someone follows your page in return you follow their content. It is mutually beneficial for both. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it is a great process to meet liked minded content creators.

However we humans find a way to spoil every good thing. There is a tendency in people to follow someone for a follow back. And after getting the expected follow back they subtly unfollow the same guy.

I am experiencing a similar thing on Medium. I will have a new follower. Out of respect and knowing the protocol I follow them back. Then after a week or two, boom they unfollow me. I call them a pseudo follower.

For a new writer, every follower, upvote, or comment is a big achievement. If someone engages with their content, they will try their best to return the favor. These guys exploit this vulnerability of the novice writers.

Ironically people using such tricks write about self-help, ethics, morals, philosophy, etc. My simple question to them is WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

Yes, the number of followers highlights how good a writer you are. Every influencer wants thousands of followers. However, gaining followers by tricking them is ludicrous. Shouldn’t a follower be someone who loves to read your content? Someone who is really excited when you publish something new. What is the point of having so many ignorant followers? There’s a very small possibility that an ignorant follower ends up being a genuine follower.

Remember you too were in our place once. Dealing with rejection is tough. Losing followers is detrimental to any creator especially for newbies. Some might even stop writing who knows?

I request anyone using such measures to increase their followers should at least have the courtesy to keep following the other writer. Even though you don’t engage with their content.

Therefore if you are trying to increase followers by being a pseudo follower, you will end up attracting pseudo followers. Your follower count may be high still it is not the only thing a true creator craves for.

To all my new writers, I know how hard it is to write good content. It’s even harder to get people to engage with it. My advice is just to keep doing your bit. Have confidence in your writing. If it’s genuinely good you will get the desired audience. I have a handful of sincere followers who appreciated me for my articles. It felt really good. I will continue to write for them no matter what.

Related posts:

A Bento box is a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. The word bento literally means “convenient” or “convenience”. The word, Bento, describes this type of lunch…

While North Carolina certainly has some spectacular places of national and even international interest (Wright Brothers Memorial, Asheville, historic markings of the Civil War and an original…

The speed of internet has been rising ever since it was discovered. While most common people used residential internet, companies take use of fibre optic cables and wireless broadband services. The…