To Unfollow Or Not To Unfollow - That Is The Question.
Unfollowing has yet again become a hot topic in the Blogosphere from talk of muting people on social media to not liking every single photo on your feed being unsupportive.
Seen as I seem to have got my blogging mojo back again (at least slightly) I thought I'd stick my oar in and pop my two cents online.
I have had something of a cleanse lately on my social media, and unfollowed in big numbers. Maybe it's due to my lack of blogging love, maybe it's because I have an intolerance to bullshit, maybe it's because I fucking hate Twitter at the moment but I unfollowed wildly and freely.
A month or two ago I had a big Instagram cull of around 200 accounts and for once, didn't lose 200 back. I was getting bored of the 'insta famous' so I got rid of all of them. I was getting bored of people who only posted selfies or outfits and nothing in between so I got rid of them. I culled people who only posted beauty because that's never been my interest. I clicked off accounts that hadn't been active since Christmas. And then I went back through and unfollowed anyone who's pictures I didn't love. And now my feed features only people who's photos inspire me and make me happy, and the addition of being one of the chosen few to have a chronological feed back in my life, I actually get to see everyone's photos too.
Twitter is a different kettle of fish because there's a lot more people on the platform, I follow a lot more people and I also don't see many people's content because it's refreshed so quickly and you see a lot of retweets of other people's conversations etc. I don't have the mental capacity to do a big old Twitter cull but I did a few months ago and dropped it down to about 500 people and ideally I'd like to cut it down even more. What I have been doing though is unfollowing as I go, for a variety of different reasons. I saw some Twitter drama a few weeks ago and went through the thread and simply unfollowed everyone who got involved with it. I unfollow people who write mean tweets. I unfollow people who only ever retweet other people's content (I'm here for you, not the other person or I'd follow them too). I've unfollowed people for slagging off a band I like, for not knowing who they are, for not following their blogs, for all kinds of reasons.
The only platform I haven't, and won't have a cull of is Pinterest and that's for a variety of reasons. Firstly I don't follow that many people anyway but also Pinterest kinda filters what you see to a certain extent? I use the explore page 99% of the time I spend pinning and the rest of the time is stalking Hannah. Pinterest filters what you'd normally pin vs what the people you follow pin so if it wouldn't be of interest to me it probably won't show up on my feed anyway so I never really have a reason to unfollow.
I have become pretty desensitised to unfollowing, I am channelling my inner Dua Lipa and singing IDGAF as I'm unfollowing with wild abandon. I don't mind if people unfollow me, I don't feel bad when I unfollow anyone else. But maybe you're still in the crux of an unfollowing dilemma? Maybe you're also wishing you could mute someone without unfollowing so you don't offend?
Read on for my crucial tips when it comes to unfollowing in 2018:
1. It doesn't have to be every platform.
I think this is maybe the most crucial rule of all - and definitely the one I am most pleased to learn. You don't have to follow or unfollow on every single social media platform, get their blog posts sent straight to your inbox and subscribe to their YouTube channel. I have come to the conclusion that it's absolutely fine to unfollow someone on one platform but keep them on another.
There are some people on social media who's blogs I love but who's social media platforms I'm not all that keen on. There are some people who's Insta grids I adore but their blog isn't a niche I am interested in. There are some people who I looooove on Insta stories and hate on Twitter. It's ok to unfollow someone who grinds your gears on one platform but who's photos you adore.
2. Don't feel guilty.
You don't need to feel guilty about not liking someone's content anymore. People change, people's contents change and people's tastes change. That account you followed because of the banging flatlays? Maybe it's all fashion content not up your street now. That girl you followed on Twitter for her amazing GIFs? Maybe she's the source of all drama now. People change and it's totally ok to just not want to follow someone anymore. You don't even have to have a specific reason. A bad vibe or just not being inspired by what they create anymore is enough. If you don't physically like something they produce or you always scroll past their things without a second glance then hit that unfollow button hun.
3. You have no loyalty.
Unless this is someone you know in real life and are actual besties with then you have no loyalty. I mean obvs I am not going to unfollow my blog squad - although Mel unfollowed me on Twitter not that long ago but not bitter. Chances are you're never going to see these people, you don't know them and you're not proper friends and you have literally no loyalty to follow them just because you always have been. Soz not soz.
4. You can choose what you see.
What's the point in having a mute button? If you don't love someone's tweets or photos what's the point in following them anyway? You can choose what you want to see on your feed and if that's only one type of content then fine. If you want to delete everyone that's unhappy or negative and only have positive happy people then you do you babe. If you only want people who throw shade and you love the drama then that's absolutely fine. Curate a feed you love and if you don't love it, don't follow.
5. Don't unfollow who unfollows you.
This is one of my bug bears. I don't see the point in unfollowing people who unfollow you, just because they have unfollowed you. Maybe they just don't love your feed anymore? That's totally fine. But if you DO still love them why would you unfollow? I have loads of people I follow on Twitter and Insta who don't follow me, including people who used to and that's totally fine. They didn't love what I was producing anymore, I still love what they're doing so I continue to follow. Don't be petty.
6. Be picky with who you DO follow.
If you've had a big unfollow then don't start following people with wild abandon too. Gaining new followers is hard enough as it is we all know that but resist the urge to follow loads of new accounts just to get follows back - this is not 2015. Be picky with who you do follow and don't just follow cos you like their profile picture. Do a little digging, scroll down as much as you can and see if they're arsey or if they subtweet or if their photos look a little dodge two rows down. If there's any reason you would unfollow in 2 weeks time, don't follow in the first place, you look like knob.
