Are you addicted to follower numbers?
Facebook is the original, and it created our need/want to have more friends/followers. We have Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, and more, all vying for our content and attention. Plus, for our own need for attention.
We know, and they know, that the innate need to feel loved and needed drives us all to want more. 'I only have 150 friends, but my friend has 250.'
What is wrong with me?
Then we look at how many likes and comments our post received. Why did last week's post get 100 likes, and today's only has 55?
I am not good enough!
'I keep checking my socials, and my friends' posts get more than 100 likes. Why don't mine get that.'
Why does no one like me?
How do you feel about your relationship with your social media profiles?
Do you need to improve your self-talk and your priorities?
Personal or influence
While social media was created for personal connection, it has also created a remarkable space for business.
- Almost every person has at least one social account; most have more than one. How many do you have?
- Practically every business has at least one social account, and most have more than one. How many do you have?
The rise of the influencer
Social media gave the world something reserved for movie stars and musicians — FAME.
Tom Cruise is the last movie star
Celebrities such as Tom Cruise seem unattainable. Out of reach from the average person. They seem to be more than human.
Social Media has changed this; we now have influencers. The idea of fame and celebrity has been watered down, and it now seems far more attainable, and there seem to be many more versions of fame and celebrity. It seems achievable for more people.
You can now be famous, a celebrity due to the number of people who follow, like and comment on your social media. It is not because you starred in a fantastic movie.
However, being famous due to the number of followers we have can be detrimental to our mental health.
Influencers work hard
Love them or hate them, influencers do work hard. Potentially they work much harder than the traditional movie star. Top influencers have to produce a lot of content to ensure their followers are happy.
This may involve:
- Creating videos regularly, daily or weekly for many YouTubers
- Positing to all social channels regularly, daily
- Keeping up a look or appearance
- Connecting with brands to promote products
- Working on projects outside social media in case social media goes away one day
No one's life is perfect
While you are looking and seeing that others have hundreds or thousands or millions of followers, they are not perfect. Nor is their life perfect.
Everyone has problems, bad days, good days and more. Social media only shows people and their highlight reels.
Even Tom Cruise has bad days.
The more money and fame you achieve, the more exaggerated your problems can become. People can feel they do not have the right to feel sad or complain from their mansions.
We saw this during covid when Sam Smith was crying, and the backlash he received was immense. However, regardless of his fame and wealth, he is allowed to feel emotional.
Remember that just because you see someone smiling and happy on their social media it doesn’t mean that they are not struggling offline. We are all human.
YouTube
There are MANY different types of video creators on YouTube, all with varying levels of followers. The vast majority of individuals on YouTube are famous for being creators on this platform first.
As an individual, PewDiePie has the largest following, with over 111 million. He is the original YouTuber that many look up to as he has been there producing daily videos almost since the inception of YouTube. Yes, I said daily videos!
Which YouTubers do you watch?
I have quite a few that I watch with various types of content. One I watch has been around for many years, and she has built a significant business from her beginnings as a YouTuber.
Zoe Sugg, or Zoella as she was initially known, has been on YouTube for more than ten years. During that time, she has created many videos and businesses, written books and shared a lot of content to influence buyers. Her income is not purely derived from YouTube, and as any intelligent creator will tell you, the need to diversify is essential.
Zoella is now her blog, and she has a team of writers and content creators helping her.
Zoe Sugg is her YouTube channel, she will earn from YouTube views, but the majority of her earnings will be from partnerships with brands.
Zoe is an author with several books under her belt. She also had a homeware brand and merch over the years, to name a few. Plus, she will earn from various brand partnerships she shares via her Instagram account.
She has a team of people who work with her to keep her brand/business on track and earn her a substantial income. I am sure there are many other ways she earns that are not public.
Do you watch these people and think, I could do that, it is so easy to do what they do. I am going to be famous like them too!
On Instagram, the top people are famous for more than just being on Instagram.
Cristiano Ronaldo has the most significant following, with over 450 million followers. He is most known for being a football star first.
Kylie Jenner follows closely with over 350 million followers. She is a cosmetics, TV and social media queen. Her two sisters, Kim and Khloe, also join her in the top 10.
Many influencers who earn a living on Instagram have 100K to 500K followers, and they make their money via promoted content.
A favourite of mine is Let me try before you buy. Brands pay Natalie to try on a range of their clothes to show how they fit and can be styled. She uses Instagram, a Facebook group and her website to generate her income.
TikTok
A new world of creators with eye-watering numbers of followers. Charli D'amelio has 141 million followers from creating dance videos as a teen.
Much like YouTube, the top creators are famous from TikTok alone before moving on to other things. Fashion brands have thrown money at her, and a reality show is on the cards. Her sister and parents have also followed to become influencers in their own right.
Medium
Like Instagram, the top writers on Medium are famous for more than just Medium. However, that doesn't mean that it is impossible to become a top writer and a top earner on Medium.
Medium has a top writer badge. If you become a top writer, you might receive a profile feature on the homepage for that tag. That profile will mean sky-rocketing exposure on Medium for your work. However, this is elusive, and you need to be good at what you do to try and reach this level.
Medium earnings allow you to be rewarded for your hard work delivering excellent writing to this platform. You can earn when people read your articles and when someone subscribes with your referral link. Please, if you are considering paying for Medium use, someone's link as it helps them to be able to keep writing.
With Medium bringing in the need to have 100 followers before you can earn money, it has focused on how many followers we all have.
Follower numbers
If you feel addicted to the follower numbers, you need to change your mindset. And you need to ensure that you make changes to your social media usage.
Not one successful creator got there by focussing on their follower count. Instead, they concentrated on creating great content. They all worked hard to get where they are today — even the Kardashians! Yes, the Kardashians work incredibly hard.
Every successful business owner and successful influencer works hard. It is never an overnight success; it takes time, patience and hard work to reach goals and to feel success.
Your follower numbers will come if you keep up the work, but it should never be your primary goal. It just is simply not good for your mental health.
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Thanks, Kelly
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