Bloggers cultivate padded follower ratios through ritual unfollowing

Evidence

Another metric that offers an index of blogger clout is the ratio of followers to following: 10:1 is often considered ideal for super-influencers in the Twitterverse. At one of the blogger conferences I attended, neophyte content producers were instructed to rely on various tactics to visibly grow their reciprocal followers; then, on a weekly basis, they were directed to enact a ritual “unfollowing” to maintain their ratios. One fashion blogger similarly admitted that she systematically “unfollows” people to ensure a higher ratio. Suddenly sheepish, she added, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, [it] must sound so stupid. My boyfriend works in music production, and it’s the same thing with that too, where people unfollow people [to keep a certain ratio].” — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 389

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the earlier chapter’s point that users deploy tactics to grow reciprocal followers; this is the dark underbelly of the ‘imaginations of the audience’ metrics discussion. — connects to: Top marketing influencers skew overwhelmingly male and white — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 486