Social media likes & people begging for followers. We have all seen it in our Twitter feed or other social media feed. People stating they got nuked by a platform.
I have to wonder, did they really or are they just begging for followers and attention. I do not discount the possibility of political reasons, as we know most social media companies are extremely liberal. A huge following is not something I have. Hoovering around 1350 is what i currently have. Do I jump on trains and throw my handle out there, sure I do, Gain more followers great, if not the world will not end. What is the obsession with having millions of followers. Do people what to just feel noticed, are they attention whores, are they trying their self worth to how large a following they have? Who knows.
Why I am on some social media
About a year ago I was out on disability for a medical condition (all fixed now). I was bored and was reading/watching the news all the time. Being conservative and my wife being more liberal w/some conservative leanings I was talking all the time about what I thought was wrong with current politics and pretty much slamming the left everyday. Well, she was getting really sick of it and blew up on me a few times. In retrospect, I had it coming as that was mostly what I would talk to her about.
So, I decided to start a podcast to vent my feelings/thoughts/gripes etc. Why start a podcast with so many already out there discussing the subjects I was covering. Short answer, to vent. I took the approach that I was speaking to one person just to get what I thought of current American/world politics. Also I learned how to mix music/voice tracks in Garage Band. I am still not expert by any means. Lately, since I have been back to work I do not get out a weekly podcast like I used to. I need to get back into it as I do like it.
Twitter, I bit the bullet and used my podcast name and got on Twitter. Again, only about 1350 followers. This number goes up and down all the time. Which brings me to the reason for this post. Personally I do not care how many followers I have. I would be lying if I said I would not like to have more. Follower counts just do not seem to matter as much to me as it does to others. The approach I take like my podcast is, if someone wants to follow/listen great if no one follows or listens, that is alright to. Again, I am doing this for me as a venting outlet.
Follow me or I unfollow you
I have seen people post, “I am unfollowing all those who did not follow me back” or “unfollowing those who do not interact with me”. To me this seems a little petty. Of all the followers I have, maybe a few people like, comment etc on any given post. It does not bother me. Why make ultimatums like that, why are you on social media, to become famous, make money? If that is the case, then you will most likely loose more followers than you gain with statements like that. To me it makes you look childish. If that statement offends you, sorry you have some growing up to do.
A big downside of having so many followers or even following so many people is that your posts will most likely get lost in others feeds. I have seen the “200 new posts” at the top of my Twitter feed. Am I going to read all 200, probably not, a lot of them will be retweets that I have already seen. So if people are not interacting with you as much has you like, then put some original content out there that engages people. If it really means that much to you to have a large following read up on the best ways to do it. I put out original thoughts or link to a news story and most of the time, at best I get a few likes/retweets/comments and that is alright.
When it comes to social media likes & people begging for followers, I really tend to ignore it. Again, do not tie your self worth to how many followers/likes/comments you have or get. If that were the case I would be a total mental case…..(of course if you talk to my wife she will tell you I am a mental case) lol
