At the beginning of the year, when I was clearing out the blogs I followed, the people I followed on social media, and overhauling how I thought and what I wanted, I decided to unfollow a bunch of people across the board.
Having followers on social media doesn’t bother me much. I’m not in it for the follows, the likes, the retweets, I post because I have this blog and a business to get out.
I have no need to be friends with people I don’t know, people I don’t follow on blogs or social media, people I don’t know in real life. So, if I comment regularly on your blog, don’t worry, I’m still following you. If you haven’t blogged in over a year, I’ve unfollowed you. If you don’t comment on my pages or social media, then I’ve probably unfollowed you unless I comment regularly on yours. And I find it funny, that just because someone unfollows you, that it means you have to unfollow them. You follow someone because you like them, it shouldn’t matter of they follow you or not.
Now, I totally get I need followers to get this blog and my books out to, and I’m sure I will slowly get to that this year once everything settles down and I can get some sort of rhythm back. I do plan on setting up some sort of newsletter or email list, and offering something for free. Not sure what yet. I do plan on doing other things, like only following pages, people, or things I like.
Although I stopped unfollowing a lot of celebrities years ago, and I have figured out that bloggers are not my tribe, if they ever were. I have followed jewellery designers under my jewellery name, and writing businesses under this one. I think I need more helpful pages, people and companies to follow that are going to be of use and helpful when I need it. So my social media is undergoing changes. I’m undergoing changes, and with the idiotic changes in the Facebook and Instagram feeds, they’re shitting me off and making me not want to use them. I want to see what’s going on now with the most recent from all I follow, not see four days ago before I see five minutes ago. We hate you, Mark Zuckerburg.
So if I have unfollowed you in the last few months, it’s not you, really. I just believe it’s time for me to move on to other experiences and other tribes. For me, it’s about learning and education now, not about how many friends, followers and likes I can get. If it ever was.
Martha says
Totally understandable. I do this sometimes, especially on blogs that don't seem active.
L.J. Diva says
Martha, I try to do it at the beginning of every year, it definitely helps cut the clutter.
Flora says
I've never really got a handle on Likes and Following… I just comment when I read something and find it interesting.
L.J. Diva says
I used to, and I used to actively follow people. But at the years wore on, it seemed more like a burden than something enjoyable.