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Navigating Bookstagram - Stories & Tips From a Small(er?) Account - Losing Followers (Story)



Hey there, everyone. I realized that this series is called "Navigating Bookstagram - Stories & Tips From a Small(er?) Account", even though I don't often post about my own experiences on bookstagram. Last time I tied in both our story and some helpful information to make a post, but today, I decided to specifically talk about something that is happening to us. The hopeful idea is that, by sharing my story with you, you can maybe learn and avoid some things and we can get to the bottom of this.

The bottom of what, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you...

So, as you know if you follow our bookstagram or read my last Navigating Bookstagram post, we were previously inactive on bookstagram. For a long...long...long...time. Before starting to post again on the 9th, we were inactive for a month. And before we posted those three pictures in late June to early August, we were inactive for another month before that. So, minus three pictures, we were pretty much inactive for two months. (Mostly my fault.)

During that period of time, Em and I didn't really do anything. Didn't update our story much. Didn't like or comment on other bookstagrammers' posts. We didn't even take any new pictures. We just...ignored bookstagram all together.

Okay, that's a lie. I did play around with different editing styles and techniques a bit. And, eventually, I found something that I liked.

So, I decided that it's about time that we (I) start posting again. I opened up the Instagram app and switched from my personal account to our bookstagram account. And that's when I realized that we had lost over 30 followers; over 40 if you exclude the three posts from early-June/late-August and combine both months of inactivity.

In the past, when we were inactive, we lost maybe 10 or 15 followers, which is actually really lucky for us, because we have been inactive for good periods of time before. But this was something new for us. We were getting closer to dropping down from 1.6k to 1.5k, a number we haven't had for months.

So, five days ago, I posted again hoping to not only prevent unfollowers, but to get back into the community and to hopefully save me from my reading slump. (Spoiler alert: my book soon got interesting, so that's taken care of.) But, while the last two things did, happily, happen, the first didn't quite come true.

To my surprise, people actually unfollowed after I posted again. After I posted again, we had a few prompt unfollowers. Now, I don't know if you remember, but in the introduction to this little blog series, I had said that there were going to be unfollowers, "lots and lots of them." And yet, I haven't exactly talked about unfollowers.

To start off, I would like to explain something. I know that I've talked about how bookstagram shouldn't just be about likes and followers and popularity, and it isn't. It's about books and community. But these particular unfollowers hurt me because this felt like a personal insult to what I was doing. You see, I had decided to use a new editing style. And it seemed that people weren't liking it.

After that, I was unsure what to do. Do I continue on with this editing style? Or do I go back to the old one to satisfy followers? In the end, I decided to continue on with what I was doing. It made me happy, and it made Emily happy, and that's what matters, isn't it? Because why would you want tons and tons of followers if you're not going to even like the content you're putting out there?

Because why would you want tons and tons of followers if you're not going to even like the content you're putting out there?

The second picture that I posted with the editing style was received better, and it made me feel better, too.

So, what's the point of all of this, exactly? I guess it's just a long way for me to say...

Don't worry about the unfollowers. It's natural. Not everyone is going to like what you're going to do. But as long as you like what you're doing and you're having fun doing it, then go ahead. Just be you in all your glory.



Check out the next Navigating Bookstagram post, "Instagram Business Tools", or take a look at the Navigating Bookstagram tag.

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