In the early Hive days there was a popular saying going around that you’d find in the comment sections…
Follow for follow?
I purposely put this in question form because that’s what it was. People were leaving comments on posts asking if they followed someone would they follow them back. It wasn’t a follow because the person was actually interested in the other’s content but it was a
if I help you help me back
type of agreement. It was a race to get as many followers as you could to make your account standout and appealing…as people are drawn to numbers.
You can imagine how many people took part in this. I admit I did as well. Back then when we were anxious for more support and interaction it was tempting to go with the trend (at least for the most part).
There were also follow for follow pyramid groups forming. You’d join a group and sign up to follow a certain amount of people in order for everyone in that group to also follow you. You can imagine how quickly the followings of said groups were rapidly increasing.
I never joined any of those groups but I had a handful or two of new followers because I agreed to follow them back. After so long you look at your feed and realize the people you are following rarely publish content you’d normally support or care to read.
About a year after this follow craze began people started getting frustrated with the follow for follow comments and started responding back
please don’t leave these comments on my post.
Or they would straight up say
no, I will not follow you for a follow.
These types of comments were even starting to be considered spam. There were posts showing up about how silly this was and stating that we should follow people because we choose to follow them and not for getting something in return. We should only support content we are interested in…this shouldn’t be forced.
I thought strongly about that and agreed. You can increase your following all day long but how many of those followers will stick around and truly support your work? How many would even leave a real genuine comment on your post?
I wanted an organic following; people following me because they truly wanted to. Follow me because you see potential in me and want to grow with me. Follow me because you enjoy reading what I put out there, not only just for you to gain one more follower.
This trend slowly but surely slowed down and eventually you barely saw any more comments about it. Those who tried to keep it alive got muted, downvoted and/or flagged.
The reason I shared that piece with you was to encourage you not to get down or blue when a mute or unfollow happens to you. The lesson I learned from that follow for follow event was that we should only want those who truly support us to stick around anyway.
Please understand that when one of these occasions happens it doesn’t mean your content is horrible or unliked by all. Each individual has their own opinion and one person doesn’t speak for the majority. The decision they made doesn’t mean everyone feels the same way.
We could come up with all the reasons in the world why that particular person decided they didn’t want to hear from you any more…but will we really ever know?
This is only speculation but from what I’ve experienced before I believe some people mute because they are just angry people. When they see someone being shown love they can’t stand it…especially if they feel they’ve been done wrong or been short ended in some way.
Some people don’t like observing or evaluating themselves so if they see posts that call for a self examination…MUTE…they don’t want to hear it.
If you post about or support an initiative that they dislike…MUTE it is!
So why torture ourselves worrying about it or trying to figure out why?
We all have a preferences of what type of content we want to run into and that’s okay.
Now I will admit this, it’s easier being muted or unfollowed by someone you barely interact with compared to someone you thought was your Hive ace boon coon. I was talking with 
What? I thought we were tight? 😳🤯
I admit that once I picked up being a curator for multiple groups I had less time to visit my old friends to check in on them. I have gotten better with that and try to make time to visit and chat a bit. So trust me, I get that this type of situation may sting a little more.
Yet I still say…
Don’t Worry Be Happy
Be happy and appreciative for those that show you love and do follow because they want to listen to what you have to say.
Stay focused on the lovely comments of support and encouragement you receive on your posts.
Honestly, there’s so much love and interaction going around on Hive that we shouldn’t need to worry about this aspect. Really, don’t let a mute or unfollow get you down.
I would rather someone mute or unfollow me than to see them show up in my comment section wreaking havoc. I am actually grateful for these features as I think they help keep the peace around here. Instead of someone blatantly posting something mean or rude about a disagreement or opinion they can just use this option and be done with it…no need for harassment.
See? It’s all good and no need to feel bummed.
I hope you realize that these types of posts I share only comes from me experiencing the same situation. Oh yea, I took my first mutes and unfollows pretty hard but then I realized everything I just mentioned to you above.
Want to know what my face looks like now when I receive one?…
Okay okay…maybe not that happy but the point is I don’t let it dim my light or steal my joy. 😌
This post was mainly for newbies that might be struggling with this. I hope you continue moving forward, making quality content, interacting with the ones you enjoy and be happy to have people support you because they choose to. 😊😉
If you’re wondering how I got a hold of these awesome images to use it’s through our Stock Images Community. Hive photographers and graphic artists submit contributions for authors to use in their posts.
There are two ways to find these images. You can look through our Image Index or our more recently added Search Feature.
For more information on how to use contributed images in your post please read here.
Thank you to 