My husband has been the biggest cheerleader of my blog, even pushing for me to go freelance at the beginning of the year. He encourages me to do the most in my career so we can live our best family life, however a debate was sparked recently that we just couldn't agree on... He believes that by being a fussy follower on Instagram, I'm stunting my growth.
Instagram is an app we both enjoy using and we quite regularly fill each other in with our small wins. We're both big supporters of each other! We both have accounts for a purpose. Mine is to support my blog and offer a place of community to my audience of mums. My husbands fuses his two passions of outdoor adventures and graphic design and offers something a bit different to those wanting to explore the UK.
We both have different goals for our platforms which may be the reason we have different outlooks on being a fussy follower on Instagram. Here's my story...
[Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash]
I'm a fussy follower on Instagram.
I'm a fussy follower on Instagram... There I said it! I curate my feed so I only see what I want to see & I regularly go through my follower list to make sure this stays as accurate as possible.
My husband can't fathom this. I'm sure many others don't understand either. To him I'm stunting my social media growth by being a fussy follower on Instagram.
Being a parenting blogger and having a feed predominantly of mums showcasing their families I'm very picky with what I want to see. I'm very wary of safeguarding children and feel this comes across in both my own feed & the feeds I choose to see. I personally want my feed to be full of mums showcasing their personalities, sure show your children, but Im 100% more interested in the person outside of motherhood. It also doesn't sit quite right with me having a feed full of children I don't know. I've questioned for a long time how much of my childs face I should be showing online and have personally chosen to keep my daughter more private.
Perhaps the niche we choose for our social media affects how fussy we are when following people? I know mine certainly has.
Does the ratio of followers to following discourage new followers?
A persons Instagram follower to following ratio was questioned during the debate. For me it's never something I look at. I actually hadn't thought about it in a negative way before. I've never judged somebody by their ratio.
At present I am currently following 570 people and have a follower count of 1930. We disagreed that perhaps I wasn't following enough people. Perhaps my ratio suggests I'm a fussy follower on Instagram & puts others off from following me.
I decided to poll my twitter following: 58.3% of people said that an uneven ratio would put them off following somebody. Perhaps my husband has a point? Perhaps being a fussy follower on Instagram is stunting my social media growth?
It was then suggested that I could follow peoples to up my following count, but mute feeds I didn't really want to see... An idea which to me felt completely pointless. If the shoe was on the other foot & I knew I had people following me for a number rather than for my feed and what I have to offer I'd be really quite disappointed.
[Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash]
Does #F4F really work?
My husbands argument was that for me to grow my Instagram following I need to encourage others to follow me by following them. This would show them what I'm about and hopefully retain them as my audience. To me this screamed #F4F or follow for follow, something I'm really not about.
I recently had someone follow me on Instagram who was well on their way to 10K. Without sounding petty this particular person was already been on my radar as someone who plays the Instagram game... So I decided not to follow back. Granted her feed is something I'd usually follow, but this time I decided to experiment! I checked back a few weeks later once I'd known she'd hit 10K and guess what, she was no longer following me! She was playing the #F4F game. I wasn't surprised, more dumfounded at how someone could be bothered to be so strategic. I imagine it's a lot of work to try and keep on top of who's following you back and who isn't?
After discussing, I realised that my husband's strategy is not to follow and then unfollow. He follows and retains those people on his feed. He regularly follows those that are suggested for him by Instagram growing 30+ followers a day when he does so. But again there's something in me that just can't follow people for the sake of following people.
Does more Instagram followers means more money?
My husband believes I need to be following more people in order to gain more followers back and eventually turn these followers into money. I totally get it! More followers could potentially mean more money and money is a hot topic when you're freelance... For me however instagram isn't a money making game.
Since going freelance at the beginning of the year I've barely made any money through Instagram. The vast majority of my income comes through my blog. It's an online space I've grown massively this year and hope to continue doing so in the future. The majority of my efforts are placed here, on clairemac.co.uk.
Perhaps this is where I'm missing a trick? Could I be making more money over there by being a bit more follow free?
Do I have a strategy to grow more Instagram followers?
No! Let's be blunt, no I don't have a strategy for growing Instagram followers... And guess what, when polled 100% of my twitter audience felt the same!
Go back a couple of years and it was all about Instagram hashtag research, posting at specific times and nailing a very specific niche. These days things feel a bit more up in the air. Instagram feels unpredictable. Like the F boy you'd love to hate!
Whether we're fussy followers on Instagram or not, it appears that none of us really feel it's that deep to have a strategy for social media growth.
I'd like to think that more of us are pouring our efforts into our blogs... A space that's actually ours!
[Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash]
So what do you think? Are you a fussy follower on Instagram? How do you feel it affects your social media growth?
Debate is always good & I'm very much open to opinions, however in this case I think I'm going to stick with what I know. If my niche was different, I think I'd be much more open to being less of a fussy follower. However when it comes to parenting & children I think safeguarding and 'sharenting' plays a big part in being a fussy follower for me.
Do let me know your opinions in the comments below. I'd really love to hear what you think.
This is interesting as I follow anyone. I still get my favourite stuff pushed to the top of my feed.
The algorithm definitely works that way doesn't it. I sort of feel like that makes me question even more so why I'm following the people I'm following. It's such an interesting one! X
I did not even know there is such a thing as a fussy follower. Really interesting post.
Thank you1 It's a term I've made up. I'm a self confessed fussy follower. I'm glad it's getting people thinking, I know it certainly did with me.
Me neither!
THANKS!
I ended up creating separate instagram accounts for my blog and for me, personally. I'm SUPER picky on my personal account, and then on my blog account I only follow people who are related to my niche. I blog about education, so this kind of makes sense because my instagram connections are other students and academic coaches for my blog, and on my personal account it's just my friends.
I've been aiming for organic growth on Insta - none of the trading followers or anything. I try to connect with folks in my niche and that's really it.
I like having more than one account, so that might be something you could try. But otherwise, unless you have a specific strategy for growth, just keep being fussy and authentic and hopefully your followers will see your authenticity 🙂
That's so interesting. I can definitely see the benefits of having multiple accounts. Although at the moment I'm not sure whether I'd have the time to run two. I'm glad you mentioned your niche though as primarily I think this is what determines how fussy I am when it comes to my feed. X
Hi Claire,
I'm not a fussy follower. Across any social account, not just Insta, I follow anybody that I think may be interesting, regardless of whether or not our niches align. I've only ever unfollowed one person - that was on Twitter after their account went crazy with the post promotions and I couldn't see anything but their content!
And I think that life is too short for social shenanigans - I'm not into follow-for-follow then unfollow or whatever just to hit certain ratios that are deemed to be desirable.
Oh definitely! I don't just follow others in my niche, I follow if I'm genuinely interested by somebodys message or personality etc. And I think you're totally right, follow for follow or checking peoples ration just feels like so much effort for an app which is supposed to be a social place. It's a bit too much. X
I'm not super fussy when it comes to Instagram but I definitely tailor my feed so that I am always inspired. Really interesting post however, gave me alot to think about.
Lauren // http://www.cko-coolkidsonly.blogspot.com
That's it isn't it. I think you need to create the right balance for yourself. It's definitely a thought provoker. I don't really know where I was going with the post, it feels a bit more rambly than my usuals, but it's good to spark debate and have something to think about. X
I used to be a lot fussier then I am now.
Now if I comment on somones Instagram and the come back to me, comment and follow I may follow back.
I kind of feel like you can’t have it both ways, you either curate your feed so you love every single post you see, or you try to grow your following by engaging with others. And following some people is a part of that.
If someone regularly engages with me, I’ll follow back as it’s not always just about how much I love their feed, it can be about how they’ve been friendly with me so I enjoy that connection. I follow many people who post different stuff to me and sometimes I follow more because i like the person rather than the content. Not that I hate what they post, it’s just not my interest at the moment.
Corinne x
Yeah, it's a difficult one isn't it. It's hard to know what the right balance is. That's such an interesting point about engaging with others because of how friendly they are, even if you don't necessarily get on with their feed. I suppose that's what it's like in real life isn't it. X
I am a fussy follower because I feel like the space I curate on Instagram should have a positive effect on me and my mindframe rather than a negative one. I used to be so on it with Insta and while I do keep track of engagements and follower numbers, I only post when I want to. I've wasted too many hours of my life worrying about a channel that doesn't give me the bulk of my income - like you!
Rosie
Yes! Absolutely! I'm exactly the same, I used to post everyday at the same time, after researching hashtags and engaging with others and it completely took the fun out of Instagram for me. Now I've left the pressure and stress behind it's definitely gotten a lot more fun for me to use again. I think that's why I don't really have a strategy anymore, because I want it to be a place for me and an app that I still enjoy using. X
I relate to this post way too much! I only follow the people that will add value to my feed and I like their content x
Same! I want to enjoy Instagram and to do so for me I need to have a curated feed of people I'm actually interested in. X
I love this post! I'm definitely a bit of a fussy follower. I follow my favourite bloggers and those in my blogging niche but I don't expect that they HAVE to follow me back. Just because I'm interested in their feed doesn't mean they're interested in mine. So then I don't follow many individuals whose feeds don't add value to my Instagram day, even if they choose to follow me 😊
Yes! Exactly! I don't think you can expect everybody you follow to follow you back. Imagine if everybody liked everybody in real life, that just doesn't happen does it. X
I follow more people than those who follow me. Despite this, I would like to grow my Instagram, but I often wait for people to follow me first, which doesn't always work. However, over the past week, I've been following more people and decided to not bother with the ratio anymore, and d'you know what? It's working I've actually gained a few more followers 🙂 TBH I think both you and your husband make good points. Just do what works for you 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I think letting go of the ratio thing and pressures massively helps with growing followers. I think the mindset change alters how you post. X
I have finally found a fellow fussy follower! I agree with what you said about F4F, it just feels incredibly spammy to me. I like to have a curated feed and not follow people just for the sake of it. I so desperately need to go on a unfollow spree as I'm following people who are either inactive or whose content just doesn't inspire me anymore! Great post Claire! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Yes! I'm so fussy honestly. I quite regularly go through mine, maybe once a month or couple of months. I'm very fussy with people who follow me too, I think because I do share about my daughter I've got to be that bit more careful. X
I have a personal account and a blog account for this very reason. I follow whoever I want on my personal account and my blog account I follow many more as long as they follow me and I think they’re credible. Thanks for sharing this thought-provoking post!
Thank you! It's definitely a thinker isn't it. I think the main things is getting the right balance for you. X
Hi,
I fall somewhere in between. I do watch out for the scammers, bitcoin specialists, F4F enthusiasts and I keep children's poctures off of my account.
Otherwise I have separate accounts for personal, business and blogging.
Oh yes, there's lots of scammers and dodgy accounts out there isn't there. I think falling somewhere in between and getting the right balance is the perfect solution. X
I LOVED reading this! I can see how the social media game can be quite controversial, but I love that your husband is not a follow for a follow type and that, while he follows many new people, he retains them. That is a very honest approach.
I think that the opinion of whether being a fussy follower is hurting your growth depends on what growth means to you. I personally am also a fussy follower and will regularly go through my following. If I have not seen anything from an account in a couple months, chances are I will unfollow them. My reason is I like to be surrounded by people I am interested in. The number does not matter; the honesty and focus of what I am using the platform for and why does.
On Twitter, I also do not generally follow back everyone who follows me. I will follow new people if their interesting tweets pop up in my feed. I do not usually notice a follower/following ratio unless it is a huge gap (say 500 following to 3,000 followers).
I think following people up to your follower count is a safe limit and, while I would not exceed it, being below it is fine too.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on this! It was a fascinating read.
Yes! That's very true actually. Growth means different things for different people. Me for example would much rather have a more engaged audience over a higher following count. Thank you so much for reading. It's such an interesting topic isn't it. X
I have separate personal and blog accounts for Twitter and Instagram, and I guess I’m a fussy-ish follower because I only follow people who I find interesting in some way.
I also don’t have a “niche,” which I guess gives me all sorts of options for who to follow but also lets me be choosy. (For example, I don’t have kids, but I follow you because I find your stuff interesting.)
Every now and then, I unfollow people if I realize they don’t interest me any more, but I admit that I’m less likely to do that if they are following me. But otherwise, I don’t do F4F; even if someone follows me, if I don’t find them interesting, I don’t follow back.
Thanks Bill! I'm pretty similar, although I follow lots of people in my niche I also follow those that aren't & that's because I'm genuinely interested in their lives / personalities and what they have to say.
This was an interesting read Instagram is frustrating for me at times. I have chosen to just post as and when and what I want to share. Thank you for sharing.
Lauren
It really is, isn't it! I used to post every day at the same times after doing loads of 'hashtag research' - Now it's totally different, I actually enjoy using the app & I think it's because the pressure has dropped so much. X
I used Instagram the least. I see so many fake accounts on there.
Yeah, there are a lot of fake / spam accounts on there isn't there. X
Interesting post! I don't use Instagram because I find my target audience is not there. But this post is good for anyone who wants to learn more about Instagram before getting into it.
Thank you! That's so interesting. X
I think you should 100% curate a feed that you love looking at. Whilst I sometimes get put off by someone with a large following and not following many people themselves, I think you can usually tell by there feed if you'd like following them.
Yes absolutely! I think we forget about ourselves as instagram consumers as well as creators sometimes. I think by having a curated feed that you're genuinely interested in keeps it fun to use for you too. X
This was a super interesting read! I’m not fussy when it comes to Instagram follows because my niche is so broad. So many people do the F4F deal and it makes me roll my eyes sometimes. On one hand, a lot of blog sponsorships want at least 10K Instagram following, but on the other hand, don’t want a bunch of superficial followers. Ugh, we have so much to figure out as bloggers lol.
That's it! I'd much rather have less followers and an engaged audience than the other way around. X
I love this post Claire! I am a very fussy follower. I mean social media is a big thing and following accounts that do not add value to your life in anyway can be detrimental to you in more ways than one. My personal social media account is different from my blog's social media account. I only follow accounts that resonate with me in one way or the other and accounts that I find interesting. The follow for follow trend is not my thing lol. Even when it comes to blogging, I only follow bloggers who I love/ whose content I relate with. I follow people with care and I only follow accounts that I find genuinely useful. If there are only two accounts that I find useful, I will follow those two accounts and let the rest go. Sometimes less is more! The people you follow on social media impact your life directly or indirectly so it's best to choose wisely. Thank you for sharing xx
Yupp. I absolutely agree. I don't really care how many people I follow as long as they're adding something to my feed & helping make me enjoy using the app as a consumer as well as a creator. X
I also have separate accounts on Instagram. One which is my personal and one for my blog. However, I am not a huge fan of it. I wouldn't call it my favourite social media platform in any way. I am more of a Twitter person I think.
I never do follow for follow just for gaining another follower. I only follow those I find interesting for some reason. Thank you for this post! Made me thing a lot.
My main social media platform is Twitter - I do have an Insta, but I'm always more drawn to sharing words than pictures (though I love scrolling through other people's photos!) That said, I'm a fairly fussy follower too. I started out following back most of the people who followed me, but then my feed started to fill up with things that made me not want to use Twitter! I like to see content that's relevant to my interests and people I recognise from friendly conversations.
I see a lot of people on Twitter and Insta with huge accounts (40k+ followers) where there's no theme or sense to who they're following and their feed must be a complete mishmash! When they have 40k or even 100k followers and they're also following the same amount of people and regularly post follower uplift threads, it's clear they're not an influencer - they're just playing a numbers game by collecting everyone who'll give them a follow-for-follow.
Side note - as Insta makes it impossible to see who's following you back without unfollowing to check (or using a third-party app), it seems to have the worst of the follow-unfollow behaviour I've seen on any social media platform. This is the main thing that's put me off using it - seeing so many people play follow-for-follow and then do a sneaky unfollow to improve their ratio. I think you're doing the right thing by choosing to only follow the accounts you genuinely like and whose content brightens your feed, and not paying attention to ratios and numbers - this is how social media *should* work! x
What an interesting post! I have separate personal and blog accounts on all social media and I don't use Instagram as much as Twitter, but I'm definitely a fussy follower, mainly because I want my feed to have relevant content.
Love this post Claire! I completely relate to not showing kids much, I personally don't share my son online after someone stealing photos when he was only a baby and that sent me. After that I did some digging and the dangers were just awful so I vowed to be very strick with what I share.
I personally don't understand this follower ratio thing, I don't look at how many people someone is following before following them, if I like their content I'll follow. There's nothing wrong with being a fussy follower at all, you just know what you like to see on your feed which at the end of the day, isn't that the point?
Jordanne || https://Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
I always like to make sure I follow content that inspires me 🙂
i personally am very intentional with who i follow on social media. in the beginning of my blogging journey, i did the whole follow for follow game which led me to an inauthentic group of followers who never read my blog at all. now, i try to be more intentional as i said.