The Follower Obsession

This post is a little different from what I normally write about but it's something I've been thinking about, thinking about a lot, actually. Followers. Oh that word, followers. 

You see, at first I didn't care about followers. Then I got sucked in, and I didn't like it. Now I'm back to not caring, as much. 

I've grown to enjoy this blogging world and more importantly connecting with all of you. I'm so appreciative of you who take the time to read this little space of mine, but the blogging world can also make you feel little, really little, maybe even the size of an ant at times. 

You come across posts that while they are helpful and don't mean anything other than that, they can start to make you feel like you're doing a lot of things wrong. That unless you grow your followers from 100 to thousands in a few months your space won't get recognized. Your earning potential won't be there. And overall you just won't be that cool blogger. 

Instagram has always been one of my favorite social media platforms. This whole follower thinking started when I posted a picture to my account and tagged my picture with the company of a dress I was wearing and included them in my hashtag. At the end of the day I had a comment from them asking me if they could use my picture. What the?! Am I reading that right?

I was shocked, excited, nervous, and not sure what to think. Doubt started setting in thinking this must be a mistake (it probably is because who knows how many other people they say the same thing to and who knows if they will ever even use the picture).

Why would they ever want to use my picture? I barely have over 500 followers. I started looking at other accounts they've featured and saw they had thousands upon thousands of followers. I felt defeated. Maybe all of those grow your followers posts were right, the more the better. 

I started contemplating randomly following everyone under the sun and crossing my fingers that it might get me another 10 people following me back (get a hold of yourself girl, you sound ridiculous). I heard about bloggers who pay for programs to automatically send out hundreds of requests a day to accounts similar to theirs, and if you don't follow them back within three days then they unfollow you. Not to mention this new follow then unfollow nonsense that is going on out there (nah, that's just not my style).

It took me about two minutes to finally come back to my senses (thank God because that was a place I did not like being in). Would it be nice to be some instagram, blogging phenomenon, of course, who doesn't envision that from time to time? But that's not always reality. 

The more I thought about it, I like who I follow. I follow your blog and your account because I enjoy seeing what you're up to. I enjoy what you have to say. I'd rather have my steady following of people I can engage with rather than a number just for show. 

So if there's anyone else like me that sometimes feels like an ant in this big old blogging world, try not to be so hard on yourself. If gaining those followers is your passion then go for it! If maintaining what you have is ok with you, then love what you do. Comparison can be such an ugly thing. God has given all of us our own unique talents. It's when you are yourself that really makes the difference.