The number of followers you have....does it really matter? Will it always matter?
As new blogger 2 years ago, I was really invested in how many followers I had. Every new follower you got was like a little sign you were doing something right. It got even better when I hit milestones like 50-100-250-500-1000. It was exciting! I remember that, and I can appreciate those who have that similar excitement now.
What is interesting is that there are factors into getting a certain follower count. One thing we know helps follower counts are giveaways. If you have a giveaway and you require people to follow your blog to enter you're going to get a slew of new followers simply because you're giving something away. There are few who will become loyal followers, but most just are in it for the free stuff. I'm sure I wouldn't have at least 25% of the followers I have now if it weren't for giveaways.
Also one of the things I've realized over time is your follower count is not really reflective of how many people are truly engaged in your blog. I currently have 1906 followers on my blog. I sure do not have 1906 daily page views. I do not have 1906 daily comments! Thankfully! Haha.
Just these two elements let us know that your follower count is not necessarily the best gauge for how many people are truly following your blog on a daily basis. Then why does the number matter so much? I understand that a high follower count can help you get into PR for some brands, but outside of that what?
I know this sounds very cynical, because I can understand and relate to everyone's excitement when you hit certain milestones. I've just gotten to the point where the number holds less of a value to me. Of course, I'd be upset if I lost half or all of my followers. I guess what matters less to me now is the urgency to get these massive milestones. If it takes me months to get to 2,000 or years to get to 5,000 I am comfortable with that. The numbers are cool, but they do not hold a candle to the people who I know are really engaged in my blog. Those people however small or large that number maybe is more meaningful.
One thing I've noticed a lot on Facebook or Twitter is people tweeting "I'm 5-10-20 away from 200/500/1000 followers on my blog!" (I do not feel the same for businesses or companies. I understand the competition aspect there). What does that do? It just gets you random people to follow your blog so you can achieve that number to have a giveaway or something. I don't know. I get it when you're a new blogger, but I feel like obtaining followers through your own merit is more meaningful in the long run. I'm not judging people who do this, I just don't always understand the reasoning. Why the need to achieve this stuff so quickly? What is wrong with being cool with where you're at?
I'm sure I sound like a jerk or really negative about this. I guess I just really do not care about competing with other bloggers as far as follower count. I do not care about being the most popular blogger on the internet. It does not matter to me. These numbers mattered to me more at one point. I do not frown when I gain followers. I like to know that people like my blog of course, but getting to a certain goal in X amount of time is no longer that valuable to me. Is there some race I'm not aware of?
What are your thoughts on this subject? Feel free to comment even if you're not a blogger!
