Whether or not to follow back everyone who follows you on social media is a common dilemma for many users. On one hand, following back is a nice gesture and can help grow your network. On the other hand, indiscriminately following back everyone can clutter up your feed and allow spammers access. There are pros and cons to both approaches.
The case for following back
Here are some potential benefits of following back everyone who follows you:
- It’s polite. Following back is a simple way to acknowledge someone who thought you were worth following.
- It helps you grow your follower count. Every follow back is a chance to gain a real follower. This can help you look more influential on social media.
- It can lead to meaningful connections. Some of the people who follow you may actually be interested in your content and could become active engagers.
- It encourages engagement. People are more likely to interact with your content if they know you also pay attention to them. Reciprocity can help build engagement.
- It exposes you to new people and ideas. Following new accounts can introduce you to different opinions and topics you wouldn’t normally come across.
Essentially, following back shows appreciation for others taking an interest in you. It nurtures engagement and helps cement the social aspect of social media. For many, it’s just good social media etiquette.
The case against following back
Here are some potential downsides of following back everyone:
- You end up following accounts you have no interest in. This can clutter your feed with irrelevant or unhelpful content.
- It gives spammers and bots access. These accounts often follow tons of people in hopes of a follow back so they can then spam their messages.
- It inflates your follower account with ghost followers. Not everyone you follow back will engage with your content.
- You lose control over your community. Following back everyone means you don’t curate who can engage with you.
- It’s time consuming. Having to individually click through and follow back each new follower takes up valuable time.
Being more selective with follow backs helps ensure your feed and community align with your goals and interests. But it risks seeming aloof or rude if you don’t reciprocate.
Strategies to balance follow backs
If you want to take a balanced approach to following back, here are some strategies to consider:
- Follow back accounts related to your niche or industry. Engaging with those who share your interests can lead to meaningful connections.
- Temporarily follow back new followers. You can unfollow later if those accounts are irrelevant after giving them a chance.
- Only follow back accounts above a certain follower threshold. This filters out most spammers and bots with tiny networks.
- Selectively follow back accounts that engage with your content. These followers have demonstrated legitimate interest.
- Follow back a percentage of new followers. For example, follow back 20% to continue growing while still being selective.
- Regularly audit who you are following and unfollow dormant accounts. This keeps your community fresh and active.
Using any combination of these approaches lets you take a nuanced path – you can follow back when it benefits you without letting your account get overrun.
Factors that impact your follow back strategy
Certain factors specific to your account should help guide your follow back approach:
| Factor | Favor following back | Favor being selective |
|---|---|---|
| Account size | Smaller accounts trying to grow | Popular accounts wanting to maintain community |
| Account type | Personal accounts focused on connections | Business or creator accounts focused on target audience |
| Engagement needs | Accounts wanting to boost engagement | Accounts with already strong engagement |
| Time available | Accounts with time to follow back followers | Busy accounts without time to follow back everyone |
Understanding how these dynamics apply to your particular account can help determine if you should lean more towards following back everyone or being highly selective.
New and smaller accounts may benefit more from following back
When starting out on social media, rapidly following back new followers can be an effective way to jumpstart growth. Each follow back represents a potential real follower for a new account. A higher follow back rate early on can help quickly build an audience.
However, as an account grows, it becomes less critical to follow back every single new follower. Established influencers or brands often have little need to follow back all followers just to maintain growth. At that point, being more selective avoids cluttering up established accounts.
Personal accounts often follow back more than business accounts
Personal social media accounts are often focused on making connections and online friendships. These accounts tend to follow back at higher rates to nurture mutual follower relationships. It helps cement a sense of community.
Business and creator accounts, on the other hand, are typically more concerned with building an audience around specific content and products. Following back is less important than making sure followers are within their target demographic.
Both approaches are valid. The goals of your account should dictate whether you prioritize follow backs or audience selectivity.
Accounts with lower engagement have more incentive to follow back
Accounts that struggle to generate good engagement on their content have extra incentive to follow back followers. Doing so can potentially lead to more likes and comments from those followers.
On the flip side, accounts that already have strong engagement rates can afford to be more selective with follow backs. Their overall growth and activity is less dependent on reciprocating every follow.
If your goal is increasing engagement, erring on the side of more follow backs can help. But if you’re satisfied with your current engagement, fewer follow backs may be fine.
Time constraints determine how many follow backs are feasible
Following back new followers takes time. You either need to manually click through your incoming followers list or use automated tools. Accounts without much time face limits on how extensively they can follow back.
Those with more available time and resources can follow back followers at higher rates. But even they may need to limit follow backs eventually to avoid the chore taking over.
Your real world schedule impacts how sustainable it is to engage in extensive follow backs. Set aside only as much time as fits your lifestyle.
Conclusion
There are good arguments on both sides of whether you should follow back everyone who follows you. The “right” approach depends on your specific goals and situation.
Smaller and personal accounts may benefit from following back more liberally. Bigger and business accounts may want to be more selective. Your engagement needs and time constraints also dictate what’s feasible.
Consider how follow backs help or hinder your account’s growth and community. With some trial and error, you can settle on a balanced follow back rate that makes the most sense.
Just keep in mind that it’s unlikely any account can sustainably follow back every single new follower forever. As your account grows, you’ll need to adapt your strategy to what best serves your needs.