It’s officially the weekend! Hopefully you've had a great
week.
This week at VKHQ, we have been thinking a lot about a
subject that has recently been drawn to our attention; the act of buying social media followers. Fake accounts that have been created for the purpose of
following accounts that have brought them.
Baring in mind, a lot of social
media sites have now become wise to this, and perform regular clear-outs of
fake, inactive or spam accounts.
There has been a fair amount of attention recently drawn to
the act of companies/brands, bloggers and average Joe’s dreaming of being
‘internet famous’ buying themselves
social media followers. It is an issue that has been gradually growing in
popularity recently and more and more people are becoming aware of this option.
A few weeks ago, we posted this post discussing whether or
not the saying ‘good things come to those who wait’ is a good motto to live by,
or whether we should go out and make things happen for ourselves.
In a time where dreams and ambitions are easier to chase and
more achievable than ever, it appears that shortcuts such as this have begun to
pop up, but just as we discussed the idea that it is more realistic to make
something happen for yourself, does it not then go hand in hand with the idea
that it is much more fulfilling to earn something through genuine hard work, rather than
buy your way in using alternative and less-then-genuine methods?
Everything seems to be more accessible these days. Advice on
launching new brands and businesses is on hand at the end of a simple Google
search, hundreds of new blogs are being set up daily and more people are
flocking to university than ever before every September in order to set up
their dream careers in their early twenties. Sometimes it can seem as though
every young person has their own blog, YouTube channel and a 2:1 from a half
decent university. It is getting harder and harder for us all to avoid that dreaded question: how do we stand
out from the crowd?
A quick scroll through Facebook/Twitter can give us a pretty
good insight into the new blogger, new brand or new product we've stumbled
across while online or overheard our friends talking about, and you
can usually guess the size and success of a blogger or business by the amount
of social media followers they have, right? More followers = more people
interested in that account, their products, blog etc. At least that’s how it
used to be.
More so now than ever before, it is incredibly easy to click
that ‘buy now’ button and bag ourselves thousands of new followers quicker than
it takes us to make a microwave meal. So how do you really know whether the
social media account you’re scrolling through has a truly impressive amount of
followers, followers they have worked hard to gain, or if they have simply
caved in under modern day pressure and brought themselves a social media
quick-fix?
Image Source: The Huffington Post
Within the ‘good things come to those who wait’ post, we
discussed our views here at VKHQ that it is about quality, rather than quantity
when it comes to engaging with people. What is the point of having 10,000
followers if only 1,000 of them are bothered about what you’re posting? What’s
the point of looking like you have thousands of followers at first glance when,
after searching through your page, it’s clear to see that only a handful of
followers are actually engaging with your content?
At the end of the day, a
follower count is only ever going to be a number at the top of a screen, it
seems to us that it is much more about posting relevant and engaging content.
And anyway, if you are posting content that people enjoy reading and are
interested in, they will, one-by-one, press that follow button in order to read
more.
The option is there, and with the internet becoming more and
more crowded with people trying to make their voices heard, it is inevitable
that some will cave under the pressure and take this option.
The big
questions is, is it worth it? Not only are social media sites regularly
decluttered of these accounts, but the followers that you have purchased won’t do
anything. They won’t share your posts or draw attention to your account, they
will inevitably just sit, inactive, in your followers list.
What do you think about the act of ‘buying’ followers? Do
you think the positives outweigh the negatives? We’d love to hear your opinion.
As always, get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and let us know your thoughts, and don't forget to hashtag #vivienkondor.
Have a great weekend.
The Vivien Kondor London Team
