I always knew that I had bots.
“Bots” as in spam comments that usually end up in my Junk folder where they belong.
But what’s up with the bots that inflate my number of followers?
I supposedly “lost” 1000 followers while I was away.
Yeah, 1000.
Months ago, I was constantly getting notifications about new followers and wondered how these “readers” were finding me when I wasn’t doing anything different than usual. I simply went about my business because I don’t really care about numbers.
But I still don’t understand the “why” behind fake followers.
Do they hope that I follow back without checking them out first? Will they eventually try to sell me something? Is it a creepy way to get into my electronic device?
Do you know what’s up with fake followers?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy that 1000 fakes are out of my hair.
I mean, I only want to interact and attract real living people, like readers and friends who want to follow my musings, sign up for my email list and eventually read what I self-publish.
Bots can’t do any of those things…
As a writer, does it bother you to see your number of followers drop? And as a reader, are you influenced by the number of followers a blog has?
Bisous,
M
Marquessa 
You are so right. Nice post.
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Thanks Cath!
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I don’t even look at the number of followers that I have tbh. The only thing that comes out if it is a need to perform the circus. I learnt that lesson the hard way.
As for the bots, I assume someone is making some kind of $$ somehow. A lot of time the aim is to get people to click on their links and voilà, ad money. Sort of like advanced pop-ups. Bleh.
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*perform for the circus
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Weird way to make money…🤔
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I can’t figure out what the point of those fake followers is. I get them… and I doubt they’ve ever read a post of mine. I think it would feel like a blow to lose a big chunk of followers but if they are meaningless followers, they don’t matter so it shouldn’t bother me.
I guess it makes me feel good to see high numbers. But it’s really only the ‘real people’ who interact that create a community here.
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It did shock me but I have no clue why they exist or if it also has to do with a weird algorithym thingamajig. The important thing is to shake the fake and get the real engaged.
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Weird! I never really notice the number unless they’re repeating or a number I frequently see. I only like real subscribers too!
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I’m thinking of ditching that widget all together. 😁
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I am so glad to hear I am not the only one that wonders these things. I appreciate your candor, Marquessa.
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Thanks for that! I admit that seeing my numbers “rise” was intoxicating but then you realize that the friendly connections within this community are much more important than numbers!
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I had a rash of fake followers and botty comments this summer… touch wood it seems to have stopped now, but it was irritating while it lasted. I’m not too bothered about numbers of followers on my blog as long as they are genuine. I don’t really notice follower numbers on others’ blogs.
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I’m thinking about removing my widget that shows how many followers I supposedly have. If I don’t look at it much, I don’t really need it right?
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It bothers me to lose followers, but as you said – if they’re bots then they aren’t real followers anyway!
That said, the number of followers doesn’t tell me anything about a particular blogger.
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Its weird though. Fake bots following us.
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How to know if your followers are real or BOT? Please help me
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No clue. I was offline and 1k followers disappeared.
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