It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that’s not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. ~ Stephen Colbert
I’ve been thinking a lot about perception and how it affects a growing blog. I guess it doesn’t really matter in the long run, because the cream always rises to the top, so to speak. But in the middle, while you’re still growing and in the midst of a million other blogs, with such an emphasis put on social media, people often perceive the strength of your site based on the number of followers you have.
Clearly this is unfortunate. Maybe at one point judging a blog by its followers was an “okay” thing to do, but not now. Sadly with the numerous sites out there that allow people to buy likes and followers, the playing field has become completely unfair.
I’m not talking about advertising with the actual social media platform, that’s different. For the most part, if a site does that, they’re advertising to get “real people” to follow them. What I’m referring to are the companies who sell “fake” followers. If you don’t know what I mean, simply Google “buy likes” or “buy followers”. You’ll see, it’s really bad!
Image via Glitter Guide
So if a blog wants to “look” like they have a fantastic following to attract advertisers, readers and contributors, all they have to do is shell out a few hundred dollars for thousands or even millions of followers, and presto, they look like they’re the place people want to be.
Obviously this kind of trickery doesn’t work in the long run because you have to back up your claimed following with engagement. And I’m guessing fake followers don’t engage, right?
But for the millions of people out there who don’t look any further than the number of followers a site has, engagement doesn’t matter. Their perception is, “Wow, so-and-so site has thousands or millions of followers, they must be THE place to be!”
It’s a hard pill to swallow that in the minds of our readers, contributors and advertisers, perception is everything. Or is it?
So what does this mean for the rest of us who have worked hard to obtain a tremendous amount traffic, yet the public can’t see that because our followers don’t measure up to sites using smoke and mirrors?
In my opinion, it means nothing. Good sites, just like good people, will always rise to the top no matter what. Just like a ball under water, you can’t keep them down.
So, if you’re a reader or advertiser looking at social media numbers to clue you into a site’s popularity, tread carefully. The truth may not be what you see. And if you’re a site thinking about “buying” fake likes or followers to make yourself look better, don’t do it. Put in the time and effort and you too will rise to the top.
As with the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, he will come”…keep in mind if YOU build it, THEY will come. That is my mantra and I’m sticking to it.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great post, Stephanie! I couldn’t agree more. I think a lot of advertisers rely too heavily on perception of popularity without carefully assessing the real (and important) statistics. As you’ve said though, if you build it, they will come. Those worth having will do their due diligence and can see past the smoke and mirrors.
Ever pull your hair out at how new brands pop up w/scads of social followers almost be4 they start? This post is 4 u http://t.co/jB2B8UqHrz
I always enjoy your lifestyle posts:) Do you have any suggestions to advertisers how they can tell when followers are being purchased?
Thank you Haley! Yes, actually…advertisers can check Alexa.com, it’s the #1 source to check a site’s traffic without actually having a site’s analytic reports. It’s not 100% accurate, but it’s pretty close. So if a site has a million followers on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook or Pinterest, yet they’re ranked above 500K or 1 million on Alexa, their followers are most likely bogus. Other than that, it’s pretty hard to tell besides looking for engagement.
Wonderful post, Stephanie! It’s even difficult to gauge engagement now thanks to Facebook’s lovely practices. I’ve always been one for quality over quantity, anyways. 😉
Just as u shouldnt judge a book by its cover, dont judge sites by the number of followers. They dont always correlate http://t.co/jB2B8UqHrz
Love this post! This is so spot on, especially with pinterest followers. Thousands of fake followers don’t equal traffic and quality engagement is everything.
So well put, Stephanie!I agree, I like feeling a direct connection with my followers. Hitting certain numbers doesn’t thrill me as much as it does when I see someone has repinned or commented on an idea of mine and it’s actually helping someone plan their wedding – it’s the best feeling ever!
So true! The algorithms will always root out people who are gaming the system eventually. And when that happens, the rest of us, the ones who care about our audiences always come out on top. Great pep talk today!
Great mantra to have – and so true! People follow crowds – so I understand the logic behind it but it always baffles me why people do that. Spend the time, energy, and money on content and the crowd will follow. The REAL crowd.
Great post! I hated it when Pinterest changed their algorithm awhile back – making it so that new users were automatically signed up to follow certain accounts.
I used to be the “Most Followed Brand” on Pinterest – but that all changed when followers started being given away at sign up.
Not to say that the {almost} 500K followers I have on Pinterest isn’t a big deal 🙂 But yeah – fake followers are not cool.
Fab You BIZ: Perception Is Everything Or Is It? http://t.co/g2bIlyBcp5 via @FabYouBliss
Great article and could not agree more! I am almost at 500 likes. It has taken a couple of years, but each one is organic and there because they have chosen to be. (Do pop by and help me reach 500!). I am proud of what I have achieved and have to remind myself that the big numbers don’t often correlate to massive success!
Love every bit of this. It’s hard building a foundation but if you build it on hard work and truth you can’t go wrong!
Best to you!
Great post. I agree….cream will always rise to the top so keep doing what you are doing!