I feel that it’s safe to say that many social media influencers and bloggers are the new celebrities of the digital age. With millions of followers and engaged audiences, they have the power to sway consumer behavior and impact brand success. But what many people don’t realise is that these influencers and bloggers also have expectations from their followers. Whilst I am personally not one of these huge influencers or bloggers, I do have expectations as a micro-influencer, and I believe it’s important for me to share them with you my dear readers. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what social media influencers and bloggers would like from their audiences and how social media spamming via comments and tags can affect their social media accounts.
Firstly, it’s important to understand that social media spamming can harm an influencer or blogger’s account as well as the person spamming. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have strict policies against spam and can block or shadow ban accounts that violate these policies. This can result in a loss of followers, a decrease in engagement, and a tarnished reputation.
Therefore, when engaging with an influencer or blogger, it’s essential to be thoughtful and meaningful in your comments and tags. Avoid spamming and focus on creating genuine engagement and conversation.
SOCIAL MEDIA GIVEAWAYS – THE INTENTION VS THE REALITY
Social media influencers and bloggers often host giveaways on their platforms to reward their followers and increase engagement. However, it’s important to understand that the intention of these giveaways is not to spam the influencer or blogger’s account. When entering a giveaway, follow the rules and guidelines provided by the influencer or blogger. If they ask you to share or tag friends, do so in a meaningful manner.
It’s annoying and disrespectful to repeatedly share the competition on your timeline or tag people who aren’t interested. Personally, I can assure you that you are doing me no favours by sharing with 101 people who have absolutely no interest in my content. I would much rather have you not share or share with just one person it may appeal to. Social media influencers and bloggers do a fair amount of work behind the scenes to host giveaways. There are many of them who do this out of their own pockets and are not sponsored by any brand. I’ve done so on numerous occasions and still do.
Whilst I can’t speak on behalf of other social media influencers or bloggers, what I can share is that I personally unfriended and/or unfollowed people that I followed who repeatedly shared competition giveaways. It flooded my feed and didn’t add any value to me whatsoever. I’d sometimes see the same post shared (without any caption as motivation as to why I should click on it) ten times within a few minutes and repeated over a few days! These are generally from what I identify as “serial competition entrants.”
WHEN “AMAZING” AND “WOW” IS NOT SO AMAZING AND WOW ANYMORE
What I have also experienced on many social media comments is that there is often a lack of authenticity. When someone constantly comments things like “amazing” or “wow” – even when I know that I didn’t create or post content that was amazing – I am less likely to believe and trust such comments. To me it comes across as engaging for the sake of it. When certain names appear on notifications, I identify them as “serial commenters”. I’m also convinced that if I posted the ugliest looking thing – some of them would say “amazing” and “wow”. I mean seriously! Just don’t comment, I’ll be ok, I’ll survive without your meaningless “amazing” or “wow”, seriously, I will.
There’s also a lack of consistency and a lack of congruency because one day you’re raving about how you love and are so loyal to a particular brand or product and then a few days later – you’re singing the same praises (even copy and paste) – about the rival brand but not because you’re actually a fan of either – but because you’re trying to win a competition hosted by either brand. This is not helping anyone; this is not meaningful. This is not being trustworthy.
If you don’t truly love something – why pretend to do so? If there is some constructive feedback that is needed, isn’t sharing such a way to help improve? Opposed to commenting “wow, that’s amazing”. I will respect and appreciate someone who rather comments, “Nicola, have you thought about trying this…?”
With so many oh so “amazing” comments – it can be difficult to really filter out which are truly amazing!
YES, I WANT TO GROW BUT MEANINGFULLY SO
As a micro-influencer, I would love to grow however, I’d like that to happen in a meaningful manner. When I create content, I don’t expect you to agree with everything. I welcome and would love your feedback on the matters that I post. If you did something, share it with me. Maybe it won’t be something I use, but I do believe that another reader could find value from your input. If you don’t like my content, then unfriend, unfollow, unlike or unsubscribe. I won’t take it personally. I just would like my content and efforts to be respected and to me that means being honest.
We all go through phases and maybe when you did subscribe, you enjoyed the content during that phase but not anymore. That’s okay. We need to take control of what we see on our feed and declutter – if it doesn’t add any value – let go. If you do enjoy my content, then you can help me by sharing my posts. When you share with a caption telling your friends/family why you enjoyed my post – or only tag those it may interest – that will be meaningful. But if you just randomly share posts – why should anyone read it? If you read a blogpost that you think will help someone else, I don’t mind if you don’t tag me – share it to help others, even on WhatsApp.
SERIAL COMPETITION ENTRANTS
I have also noticed “seasonal” followers on my page/profiles. They follow when I have a giveaway and are highly active on my page/profile for the period of the giveaway and once the giveaway is over…they unfollow and don’t read or comment on any of my posts/content. That’s okay. I don’t expect my content to tickle everyone’s fancy. I stopped running giveaways for a long time and this was one of the reasons. I wanted an audience who actually enjoyed my content and wasn’t just there for “freebies”. I want and would like to have meaningful engagement on my social media platforms – not serial comments from serial competition entrants and I say that with all due respect.
When I mentioned that I wanted to grow – I don’t mean by the number of likes or followers but by building an online community where we grow with each other by sharing photos/ideas/opinions/lessons, etc. which will empower/entertain/educate in some way or the other. I want to be that blogger that makes you smile or picks you up when you’re feeling down or creates awareness of current topics or events or products. I want to make a positive difference through the content that I post.
KEEPING IT REAL
As I always say, one day when Kayden reads my blog or social media posts, when I am no longer around, I want him to have a true reflection of the woman I was and that means my content must always be honest even if not always positive. We all have down days and angry moments and when I share mine, it’s to let you know that I have those days too and not everything is picture-perfect and it doesn’t always have to be “amazing” or “wow” cos life is just not that way, well not mine anyway, and I am okay with that. If you relate to this, then I want you as a reader or follower because I love keeping it real.
SOCIAL MEDIA SPAMMING & OTHER ABUSIVE BEHAVIOURS
Facebook (and Instagram as well as other social media platforms) have strict policies against spamming and other abusive behaviors. This includes posting repetitive comments or messages, using misleading tactics to increase engagement, or engaging in other behaviors that violate Facebook’s community standards.
If Facebook detects any of these behaviors on an account, it may take action to limit the account’s reach or even suspend or deactivate it. This is known as a shadow ban, where the account is still visible to the user but not to others on the platform.
To avoid being shadow banned or penalised by Facebook, it’s important to follow their community standards and avoid any spammy or abusive behavior. This includes avoiding posting irrelevant or repetitive comments, not using bots or other automated tools to increase engagement and respecting other users’ privacy and intellectual property rights.
By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your Facebook account remains in good standing and that you can continue to engage with others on the platform in a meaningful and respectful way. By doing so, we can create a healthy and engaging online community where everyone can thrive.
Social Media Links
Instagram: Nicola Subben
TikTok: Nicola Subben
Facebook: Peanut Gallery 247
Twitter: Nicola Subben
