Followers
Follower To Follower #19
F2F Vs f4f — What’s the difference?
--
(This is an old article, more than 60 days old. Many of the people tagged are no longer active.)
Welcome to Follower To Follower!
First time or 18th, you may have that burning question in your mind: what’s the difference between F2F and f4f? It’s only the number, right?
Not exactly.
It’s reasonable to think they might be basically the same thing — they’re so similar! And, to be fair, the concept of follow-for-follow seems to be pretty broad to begin with.
By some definitions, F2F could be considered a type of f4f.
So before we really get into what makes F2F different, I think it’s best to really analyze f4f. Pick apart the good, the bad, and the ugly!
F4F
Short for “follow-for-follow,” the concept is to follow someone with the expectation that they will follow you back as well. It’s a practice that’s not necessarily shunned (as some would think) by Medium proper, but it’s not exactly encouraged, either.
At its most basic, f4f is simply clicking the “follow” button and hoping (or expecting) that person will follow you back.
But there’s so many variations of it — some that are very much against TOS! So let’s look at a few ways f4f can go wrong:
Automation
If you create an automated bot to follow the max number of people per day, you will get banned. Using any kind of artificial, automated systems are strictly prohibited by Medium’s Rules:
Reading that seems a lot scarier than it really is. Basically, they just want the content here to be valuable to humans. Getting bots involved (or, for some of the other stuff, focusing too much on selling to people) devalues the content. Otherwise, it would stop being a haven for writers and start being a haven for get-rich-quick schemes.
Interesting note: “disproportionately large number of interactions.”
On my first account, I responded to SO MANY articles in a day they suspended my ability to comment. Yup, it happened. Here’s the thing, though:
The suspension was automatic; when I contacted support, they lifted it immediately.
Of course they saw that I had been scouting through “100 follower” articles for days leading up to that moment. Of course they noticed I was following somewhere around 70–100 people a day. Of course they assumed I was using f4f tactics to gain followers.
Why was it allowed? Because it wasn’t artificial. I actually read and commented on every person’s articles. It wasn’t automated by a bot, and the comments weren’t copy/pasted.
(That copy/paste thing is quite important, so remember to vary up your responses! Even if they’re basically the same, a little variation helps.)
Further down the Rules, you’ll find this as well:
So what is against the rules? Boiled down from my experience, I’d say to stay away from these:
- Copy/pasta-ing responses.
- Bots that let you do things while you are away.
- Pay for engagements of any kind.
And personally, I don’t so basic f4f. Just following without engagement is like eating sugar when you really want cake. It’s empty and unsatisfying.
F2F
Ok, then, how is F2F different?
For starters, F2F isn’t a method. It’s a series of articles I created on Monster Alley. They’re always free (unmetered), and aim to help Medium writers connect with each other.
That’s a super basic summary, though. How about we pick apart what that even means, eh?
Followers To Each Other
The name itself came from everyone on the list being people I’ve followed. In essence, if you’re on one of these articles, you’re in my tribe! But without the lists, you may not know it; and you may end up feeling very alone.
Tagging people regularly brings them to that article, and possibly to the entire series! From there, they can decide to follow others or do nothing — but know that they are not alone!
You are not alone here — you’re in good company, after all!
Tagging Expectations
No one has to do anything at all — this is simply a small listing. In fact, I’ve got a website designed to accommodate a much larger listing (off-Medium), called The Evergreen Directory.
These lists function like the phonebooks of old: if you’re looking for people, they’re great! If not, well, it’s still nice to be on one in case people come looking for you.
There are no expectations whatsoever. Only an opportunity to increase your visibility and build your community your way!
Using The Traffic
To be perfectly honest, I do use the traffic these articles bring in to low-key promote things. Especially the Monster Alley publication. About 1 in every 100 people see that’s where it was published and scoot on over to see what it’s about.
I know, it’s a little sus. But, I’d make a lot more money if I metered these — and my growth probably wouldn’t change all that much.
The people, though… well, there’s a lot of non-members out there. I’m happy to have all of you in my community. Not just the paying members.
I think it’s a fair trade, personally. A little bit of traffic while I (hopefully) help bring others together for free!
Only Once
The biggest difference, I think might be that I limit profiles to only one listing in the entire F2F series. That means if you were on #1, you can’t be in the series ever again.
Which, I know. Unfair.
Hear me out, though. If I started repeating names, it wouldn’t be long before all the articles just became echo chambers promoting the same people.
I don’t want that. I want to help as many people as I can!
That’s what The Evergreen Directory was created for. If you’re interested, check out the article I published about it, explaining a few things. If not, no worries — you can still get the benefits from being on a Follower To Follower article just the same!
Now, on with the names!
Remember: no one is required to follow anyone else, ever. This isn’t a “follow-for-follow” kind of list (though what you all do with it is up to you).
5. Ben Ulansey 6. Eggnog Jones 7. Veritas Vita 777 8. Kay 9. G C Vasanmettur
10. Ekene Moses 11. michael 12. TarrantRo 13. Sayantani Dutta 14. Angela
15. Cecelia Young 16. Leanna Tanner 17. Vincent Baret 18. Hawwah Yusuf
19. Mohammad Bilal 20. Monique's Tarot 🦋 21. Muhammad Hamxa
22. Kyle Boyer 23. Amber Lester 24. Raylen Davis 25. Icha Agustya
Due to volume and time constraints, unless there’s a question or you’re brand-new and looking to be on a future list, I’ll respond to comments with claps to let you know I’ve read and appreciated your thoughts and encouragements!
How To Get Mentioned In A Future List (Or Not)
Let me know in a comment on any F2F article like this one, and I’ll add you to a future one. UNLESS you request not to be on a list, then you’ll be removed-no questions asked!
Each profile can only be listed in the series once. If you’ve been listed previously, I won’t add you to a future one, no matter how much time has passed.
Consider checking out the Evergreen version instead! Click the link or sign up to the newsletter below for more details!
Remember to clap, comment, and either follow Monster Alley (where they’re published) or save the list for more of these! Good luck on your climb!
Until next time, follow each other, follow the dopamine, and follow yourself, always!
Hey, look: a newsletter. And also Twitter. And Facebook.
Support writers, read without limits, and be part of the community — all for $5.
