Thanks for Following Me — Now Would You Please Read Something?
I’m watching you
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Hi there new follower! I see you! Thanks for noticing me. At least I think you noticed me. If so, I appreciate it.
I suspect, though, you may not really know I exist. I don’t understand this side of you, actually. You’re kind of an enigma. I see no evidence that you have ever read anything I wrote, interacted with me in any way, or had any dealings with my writing or me. So why the follow? It may be my glorious picture or bio, but somehow I doubt it. You’re not a bot, as you appear to have written some articles, but you don’t appear to have read much.
You probably thought I would just follow you in return, read your work, and not think about whether you do the same. I would just be so grateful to you for adding to my following numbers.
But my number of followers does nothing for me these days. Oh yes, there was a time when I felt like Sally Field in that famous Oscar speech, excited about each new follower.
Now I understand the truth — followers are just people who clicked on a button for any random reason. Many mean nothing. Sometimes I believe most mean nothing. They’re just there for their own Oscar.
The followers who really mean something to me? They actually appreciate something about me or my writing. We’ve had some sort of interaction — on one of my articles, their own, or someone else’s. There’s a spark. It’s like meeting a new friend you automatically understand. You see their mind, and you get it. Or you want to get it because it is so interesting. You want to connect more. You actually want to follow them around.
I am curious about you. Why did you hit that button? Are you just going for the follow to get a follow? Many do that, just clicking away until they hit the maximum follows for the day. Is that you? I suspect it is. Those of us who have been around for a while know you’re doing that. You may notice lots of us don’t follow you back.
