nobody needs to follow you anymore, and thats why your reels get views and no follows

everyone is asking why the views are fine and the follows are dead, and i think the answer is boring and structural, not the algorithm punishing anyone.

think about why you used to follow an account. you followed so you would see their stuff again. that was the entire deal. now the feed serves you whatever it wants either way, and if that person makes another good video you will probably get shown it regardless. so following costs the viewer a slightly messier feed and gives them almost nothing back. the trade stopped making sense.

which means "follow for more" is asking people to pay for something they already get for free. no wonder it quietly stopped working.

the follows that still happen look different to me. people follow when they want to find you again on purpose. not to receive you, to locate you. thats a completely different job and it needs a different reason. a series where they want the next part. a name for the thing you do. something on the profile that signals there is more of this and its organised, not just one good video and then vibes.

heres the part im not certain about and would like people to push back on. if this is right, two accounts making equally good videos should convert views into follows at wildly different rates depending on whether theres a recognisable recurring thing on the profile, and hook quality should barely matter for the follow specifically. it obviously still matters for the view. so if you run a series or a named format, does your follow rate look different from your one off posts? id like to know if this holds up or if im talking nonsense.

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Brettinabox•2 months ago•4

i agree somewhat but i do still follow based on what i Want to see, but the feed doesnt care.

Exciting_Claim_486•2 months ago•2

tbh the biggest variable nobody talks about is whether the profile page itself does any work. two creators with identical content but different bios and pinned posts will convert completely differently. the follow decision happens on the profile page, not on the reel

Reasonable-Hat7444•2 months ago•1

this makes so much sense, but i think platforms have now got the show videos only from those following feature and i feel it still makes sense to have follows.

Easy-Star7894•2 months ago•1

this whole new thing only benefits socials, not creators. Especially in those niches where, anyway, you like it or not, people choose based on follower numbers if a page is worth following or not. Not on a random viral reel.

modern_mirror•2 months ago•1

Social media strategist for major players in the space. People typically follow pages because they do one thing really well, this is what we call a video format.

A video format usually means a similar hook, opening visual, subject matter, structure, and payoff.

People follow pages that do one format well because they want to see more of that exact same thing. If you’re posting a variety of content, and someone randomly finds your reel and goes to your page to see more, they’re going to be disappointed that you actually don’t make more of what they just saw, and they leave. But if they see you’re doing more of the same, they’ll usually follow you in support and in hopes they see more of it.

Autumn_fav•2 months ago•1

Okay somewhat agreed

tom_vuma•about 2 months ago•1

Yeah this makes sense to me too. I think the big thing is having a named series, not just good videos. A series turns "follow" into "I want the next part," which is a much easier ask than "trust me for random future stuff."

To your actual question, anecdotally yeah, accounts running a series do seem to convert better even when a random post gets more views. I think it's because the follow isn't really about that one video anymore, it's about wanting what comes next. One-off good videos don't really create that pull.

Wonder if this still works for stuff that doesn't fit a series easily though, like a one-off comedy skit, feels harder to turn that into a "next episode" thing.

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Ok-Amphibian1447•2 months ago•1

And honestly is your content is moving there is no need to be so obsessed with followers unless there's a minimum requirement like on youtube

Front-Ocelot8227•2 months ago•1

The funny part is that follow for more is basically asking people to subscribe to something they’re already receiving.

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