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Living Online: When Who Follows You Is More Important Than Who You Are

Career success and personal achievements no longer cut the mustard. These days, it’s who’s following you that really matters

'You have a new follower on Twitter'. Oh, how I love reading these words. How validated/loved/smug I feel.

Until I open the email and discover that said follower is a window cleaning service from Deptford. Or, most recently, a PhD student specialising in neuroimmunology. I have zero connection to either field. Though I do have very dirty windows, so the Deptford crew might come in handy.

What are you worth? (Klout)
What are you worth? (Klout)



I joined Twitter in 2011, but my account was fairly dormant until I went freelance last September. I’d been told the social media giant was an indispensable tool for journalists, a place to make contacts, find story ideas and secure commissions. I was late to the party. And not in a stylish way.

In five months, averaging about two Tweets a week, I’ve managed to gain an extra 90 followers, making a grand total of 176. I was rather pleased that 176 people care what I have to say, but it would seem I’m delusional.

A cursory glance at my peers’ profiles suggests I’m failing miserably at this self-promotion game. Everyone who’s anyone in the world of journalism these days will have in excess of 2,000 Twitter followers. I follow one writer in a similar genre to me. She has almost 10,000. She’s 26. TWENTY-BLOODY-SIX.

Granted, I am familiar with her work and she’s pretty awesome, but still. I have a job I love and am proud of what I’ve achieved, yet it’s hard not to feel like a big, fat failure in comparison to these savvy social media operators.

YouTubers such as Zoella have huge social followings (Twitter)
YouTubers such as Zoella have huge social followings (Twitter)

A Numbers Game

In the digital media era, you are how many followers you have. We’re no longer judged by how good we are at our jobs or as parents, friends or lovers. Success is now a numbers game, and disturbingly, there are numerous services, such as Buzzoid and Buy Instragram Followers, that promise to boost your online influence by doing just that.

"As a former journalist, watching my Twitter followers dwindle makes me sad. Now it seems my opinions aren't important because I'm no longer in an international news organisation," says Fifi, 31, a London-based producer.

Credibility increasingly is linked to a strong social media presence. Followers equal endorsement and the more you have, the more likely you are to be regarded as an expert in your field. Some bloggers have such a huge fan base, they’re outselling the professionals.

Take Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella) and Ella Woodward (aka Deliciously Ella). Fashion and beauty vlogger Zoella has almost eight million YouTube subscribers and 3.8 million followers on Instagram, while Sali Hughes, Guardian Beauty Editor, author of Pretty Honest and a former make up artist has nowhere near the same online clout as the comparibly inexperienced Sugg.

In the same vein, former make-up artist turned socialite Tanya Burr enjoys the worship of 1.28m Twitter followers and has written a book called Love Tanya full of the life tips she's learned in her 25 years on the planet.

Woodward’s vegan cookbook, Deliciously Ella has become the fastest selling debut cookbook since records began and in the last week in January, sold 32,144 copies. Nigella’s latest offering shifted a comparatively paltry 1,295. The queen of cosy domesticity has been well and truly dethroned.

The Insta Yogis

In the world of yoga meanwhile, Instagram is the preferred platform for instructors keen to make a name for themselves (and spread love, peace and happiness, obviously). Lithe, tanned yogis doing handstands in their bikinis on far-flung beaches battle it out for followers with other lithe, tanned yogis doing handstands in their bikinis on far-flung beaches.

Yoga Girl Rachel Brathen has 1.2m followers on Instagram
Yoga Girl Rachel Brathen has 1.2m followers on Instagram

"If Instagram is encouraging 18-, 19-, 20-years-olds to take up yoga, then that’s great," says Judy Watchman, a freelance yoga teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre in south London.

"If you’re a young person, you’re going to be inspired by another young person who looks good and is healthy and happy. But it’s sad if people get the impression that’s all yoga is about. I’ve heard a lot students saying ‘I’m not very flexible’ and they come away from a class feeling humiliated because they can’t get into certain poses.

"Yoga’s not really about flexibility. It’s about your contact with your deeper self and your own wellbeing and it needs to work for you. People in wheelchairs can do yoga, so it would be a shame if these Instagram profiles put people off."

And what about the highly expert yoga teachers who don't want to prance about online in their bikinis? The ones with a few more decades experience and far more expertise - are they losing out to these newly-qualified nubiles just beginning on their yoga journeys?

Another follower? (REX)
Another follower? (REX)

Ordinary People

But it’s not just journalists, celebrities and those trying to raise their public profile for their business who are affected. It’s happening to everyone. Whether you realise it or not, your social clout is constantly being measured.

Sites such as Klout look at how ‘influential’ you are and reward you on your social reach. So if you post about food all the time, and your followers like it so much they rush out and visit the restaurants you recommend and buy the recipe books you Instagram, your influence score will go up. And you’ll get send all sorts of products, discounts and rewards. For free.

Advertisers know there’s nothing like a word of mouth recommendation. And by dishing out a few freebies to ‘influential’ types, they ensure their products get socialed. And the poor chumps who don’t have the ‘klout’ to receive the freebies go out and buy the recommended products others got for free.

But if these people hadn't received them for free would they have genuinely recommended them? Can we really trust even our friends' product suggestions?

It’s an alarming cycle.

Don't trust everything you read online (REX)
Don't trust everything you read online (REX)

Trust No One Online (Untill You've Checked Them Out)

Increasingly young people’s popularity is judged by their online follower numbers rather than their friends IRL (in real life). It’s starting not to matter what you’re really like - or what you actually rate - only how many people like to follow you and who goes out and buys what you've rated.

 

Psychologist  Dr Linda Papadopoulos, author of Whose Life is it Anyway? Living through your 20s on your own terms, believes comparing ourselves to those who have built an impressive online following is ultimately detrimental to our wellbeing.

"Connections now are much easier and more visible, and social media has certainly become one of the strongest barometers against which we measure our popularity, but it can be harmful if you’re looking to people you don’t know you to tell you you’re doing well," she says.

"It’s proven that when we’re being watched our behaviour changes drastically. We become much more compliant. If I know you’re watching my online profile, I’m going to make sure I’m being the person I think you want me to be."

When it comes to seeking advice online, Dr Papadopoulos encourages caution. "The best thing about the internet is also the worst thing. It’s a great democratiser. Is my opinion about a restaurant is as valid as a critic who regularly eats in Michelin-starred establishments, simply because I shout it loudly?"

"Always ask yourself, 'Who’s writing this? What’s their agenda?'.  As soon as that cloak of celebrity is put on, we take it as validation someone knows what they’re talking about.

"But when it comes to what is genuinely good or bad for our health, or if we’re seeking business advice, as cool as someone seems, we need to go back to basics and look at their credentials."

It's hard not to get sucked in - social media is notoriously addictive. But all we can do is apply the common sense we have offline to what we read online. Which really boils down to one suggestion - take everything with a pinch of salt.

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