Unfollow Me, I’ll Never Know
Do we really need to know who has unfollowed us on social media? I recently came across an article on Teen Vogue that provides a listicle for young people to find the perfect app to find out who’s unfollowed them on Instagram. Toxic? Yes. Necessary? Absolutely not.
Social currency = real money
On Instagram and other social media sites, followers are the social currency that determines whether you have a strong community. These legions of “fans” ‘Like’, ‘Follow’ and ‘Share’ content from people of considerable influence. It’s this influence that can be monetised by advertisers and brands. Don’t @ me fellow marketers. The obvious prime example of this type of behaviour is the Kardashians-Jenners. Their personal brands are worth millions and according to the Influencer Marketing Hub, Kim earns between $619,846 to $1 million per Instagram post.
Disagree > Unfollow > Repeat
There are so many reasons people unfollow profiles on social media. Whether it’s not agreeing with that person, or brands’, content or if they post something that doesn’t align with our personal views and ethics. In some instances, people might just be bored with the content being shared and that’s perfectly okay.
I’ve unfollowed tonnes of profiles on social media when I am so sick of seeing the nonsense they share. I’m not quite sure how many times I’ve unfollowed the Kardashian-Jenner clan but curiosity often gets the better of me when I hit that “Follow” button once more. It’s a vicious cycle.
You’re in control of your feed
It’s important to remember that you are in control of your feed. Given the nature of the Instagram algorithm, it shows us content that it thinks we will enjoy, based on what we engage with on the app. For example, I love watching videos of dogs being silly, cute, funny, or all of the above, so my ‘Explore’ page and ‘Suggested for You’ is heaped with these types of videos. I curate the accounts I follow due to how they make me feel.
One of the reasons I unfollowed Kylie Jenner was because one day she was super curvy looking gorgeous in a post and the next she was model slim with a new face. I don’t care about Kylie Jenner, but I do care that young women may be consuming her content in awe and wondering why can’t my body morph between these two shapes. It’s not just the spawn of Kris Jenner that get away with this but they yield the most influence on the app so should be responsible for their actions and the impact they have on impressionable people.
Social media management shouldn’t just be for marketers, training and equipping young people to tailor their feeds to suit their needs, interests and mental well-being should be a learned skill. It allows them to know what is positively affecting their mental state and more importantly, what is negatively impacting it.
Fake it to you make it
I really need to stress that a lot of the time accounts with huge followings come with a lot of bots and fake accounts. Out of my 138 humble and valuable followers, I was followed by 5 accounts this week… all with different names but the exact same pictures all messaging me to be an ambassador for a scammy brand of sunglasses. If this isn’t a success, I don't know what is.
Sometimes our profiles are unfollowed because of our content, or personal relationships with people (ex-partners, ex-friends, etc) but other times those accounts may have been deleted and set up in another part of the social world so I wouldn’t give it too much thought.
Ten is the magic number
When Instagram first came about I was obsessed. Did I know what it really was? No, but I loved it. Back in the early days, you had to get ten “Likes” for the number to round up and not show the account names who had engaged. My God, getting to ten back then was the best feeling in the world. It was… acceptance.
I was programmed socially to know the best time to post long before platforms like Later came around. 7.30 pm on a Sunday - the golden hour. Everyone getting ready to go back to school the next day, Dancing on Ice on TV when the uniforms were being ironed, this is when it all went on.
The masses would come out and open that Instagram app and I would pray for ten people to “Like” my hyper-filtered post with black eyes and a certain graphic novel vibe. I mean, how sad? But that was me aged 14/15 with a completely new thing to learn how to deal with.
Whereas tweens today have grown up digitally native from birth and most of them will have had a phone shoved in their face from the ripe age of 1. They know no different than social media, followers, views, and communities. But what happens when these platforms aren’t being used in a positive way?
When you say nothing at all
Online communities can be incredible, they’re a really great example of how social media can be used in a healthy way. A few examples include Girls in Marketing, Taylor Nation and My Dad Wrote a Porno. These online communities were built out of shared interest, engaging content, and similar personalities and connections.
On platforms like TikTok, people can become overnight sensations for various reasons. Aspiring artists’ music can be blown up when used as a trending sound and creators like Khaby Lame literally say nothing and become the face of Hugo Boss.
But how can I do it?
With all of these success stories, comes indirect pressure for young people to amass huge followings. The first thing they need to decide however is what content will they share.
As a platform, TikTok has got a video for literally everything. From the infamous Dr. Pimple Popper-esque videos to dance routines, duets, and green screen masterpieces. For a young person, the most challenging thing to do when you’re 13+ is finding your voice and personality, let alone which social media genre you’re going to fall into.
It’s a hard path to follow
It’s no doubt that social media is a complicated world and there are plenty of dangers associated with navigating it. I really don’t want to sound like a medieval 25-year-old but I know what the pressure felt like at 14 to get 10 likes let alone what it is like now living your entire life in front of the screen and your “community”.
Long story short, Teen Vogue should not be publishing toxic listicles that could literally give teens a complex about who’s unfollowed them. Whether it’s a stranger, a bot, or an ex-friend or partner, you didn’t need them in your virtual life. Take control of who you follow, and who follows you. Social media when used responsibly can be a healthy, positive place - and I hope it gets easier to navigate for all of us.