From Today Onwards, I Will Stop Following Others (Using This Method)

Writer’s Dilemma

How I tried to balance my followers and following ratio.

You know, I’ve always been kinda baffled by how some folks on Medium rack up followers like they’re collecting stamps or something.

There I was, stuck in the 200+ followers limbo for what felt like an eternity.

Then, one fine day, I stumble upon this article that’s all, “Hey, wanna boost your followers? Just start following people back!”

Medium lets you follow up to 100 folks a day, and I’m thinking, “Why not give it a whirl?”

But hold up, I didn’t just dive in willy-nilly.

Nope, I had a game plan. Instead of following every random person, I zeroed in on the clappers.

Yeah, you heard me right.

The clappers.

Those lovely souls who clap for articles.

My logic? If they’re clapping for stuff I like reading, chances are, we’ve got similar tastes.

Plus, hitting up the recent clappers meant they were active users.

Bingo!

Fast forward a bit, and boom — I’ve clocked in over 1,700 new followers.

But here’s the kicker: to get those numbers, I had to follow over 4.4K peeps.

Talk about a reality check.

Suddenly, my profile’s looking a tad lopsided.

More following than followers?

That’s not the writerly image I had in mind. It’s like walking around with a “Desperate for Attention” sign taped to my back.

So there I was, moseying to my office, coffee in hand, when it hits me.

Why not switch up the strategy?

From now on, I’ll cool it with the follow frenzy.

If someone digs my vibe and hits that follow button, sure, I’ll follow back. But initiating the follow? That’s on pause for now.

Let’s see how this plays out. Will my followers-to-following ratio start to look a bit more respectable? Only time will tell.

But hey, I’m all for experimenting.

After all, isn’t that what social media’s all about?

Finding your tribe, connecting over shared interests, and maybe, just maybe, not having to follow a small country’s worth of people to feel like you’re part of the club.

Thanks for tuning in, community.

Here’s to hoping my little epiphany pays off.

Cheers to balance, both in followers and in life.