Social Media Followers Have Never Mattered Less

There's a mind-bending conclusion that many social media industry analysts are now exploring: your follower count doesn't matter. ​According to a recent article in TechCrunch, analysts say​, "as social media becomes increasingly reliant on algorithmic feeds, creators are navigating a new normal: Just because you post something doesn't mean your followers will see it."

Many of us have been seeing this for months on platforms like LinkedIn where content is being actively hidden or suppressed after algorithmic changes that seem to be both ​gender-biased​ and weighted towards content that is either paid or manipulated through a ​series of "homework" tasks​ (like engaging on the platform for 15 minutes before posting or writing lengthy comments on others posts) that aim to "train" the algorithm to allow your content to be seen.

Ultimately, this reality of social media is a resetting of what really matters away from amassing lots of followers to gamifying your content, the way it's posted, what activities you do around it on the platform and these external factors in order to get your posts to show. For creators dedicated to working within this system, this is an opportunity. For anyone else naively hoping to just have their latest posts seen by their friends, family and 1st level connections ... you're already getting left behind.