“Dear XYZ Winery,” I wrote (Paraphrasing, I was fuming and didn’t save it):
“I have just unfollowed you, too. Yesterday you followed me, so I followed you back. Today you unfollowed me, so I – in turn – unfollowed you. May I suggest to you that this is bad PR. You made me aware of you. And, the social media people that you’ve hired, who promised to get you lots and lots of followers for you, have been successful, in that regard. However, with today’s apps for finding out who is following you and who is dropping you, your PR plan is flawed. I won’t out you, but you need to know that this is not good PR. It’s so wrong, in fact, that I’m going to blog about it. You’ve given a great story to me. And I’m giving you free PR advice. If you want to at least appear to be sincere, you should have nearly, if not more, people following you as you are following.”
That was five days ago. They had 5,000 plus Followers when this all went down, and they were following about 700 people. That’s always the dead giveaway. Any company with thousands of followers and they’re only following a measly few… they’re playing the new game to pretend fame and importance. They’re just phony baloney.
As I write this, I just checked where they’re at 5-days later. Well they took my message to heart. Somebody got really busy, liking those that they’ve yet to follow. They just crested to 6,000 followers, but here’s the punch line – they now are also following 5,869 entities.
Good, that makes me feel so much better. Can I do this with everyone? Not hardly. However, I’m blogging about it and perhaps a few more companies will get with a decent PR program.
My Back Story ~ How I got even, instead of angry
And, you can, too. There’s an app for that…
When I began to use Instagram on August 12, 2016, I went in like a sheep to the slaughter. I searched on “jodiaz.” Not a good idea, when you’re years late to the party. Who knew my name was so common? Since I was wanting to build my wine presence I decided to use jodiazwine.
I began following people also into wine. Many of my friends connected with me. Some right away, some later, some not at all. SommTable, for instance: 5,055 Followers, 898 Following. I began to really notice that trend. She asked me to follow her, I did, and in the blink of an eye, I was unfollowed. (Huh?)
Many people, places, and things began to follow me, as soon as I began using hash tags. Many of you know what I mean. Those of you not yet adept, read on. These guys would follow me and that’s how I discovered them. Silly me, so honored that they would appreciate my hard work in life, so I followed them right back. But, interestingly, my follower numbers really didn’t budge.
“Hum,” I wondered, “how could that happen.” I was beginning to experience Instagram; and even more important, I began to realize a social media, nefarious PR faux pas. I decided to start checking every single follower that I had, as a result of them coming after me and then disappearing. One after the other, large followers and only a handful of people – or companies – that they were following THEM back. Hum… “Do these people actually find followers and then as soon as they follow them, they get deleted,” I wondered.
Are People Really That Desperate to Build Their Presence
You bet they certainly are. As I was deleting them one-by-one, Jose being the tech guy that he is, said, “there’s an app for that.” I said, “no, that’s alright, I can do this one-by-one.” Then, after a few days of doing this in the spare time I really don’t have, I said, get me an app. He did. It’s called “Followers.” I love this APP. Everyday, I’m checking it and keeping my Instagram account “real.” Real people, real images, real following and being followed. I HIGHLY recommend it, if you’ve got an Instagram account.
Bah-bye… In the blink of an eye, I cleared my unfollowing list in no time. I check it daily. It won’t ever happen again
So, What’s the Take Away?
I had a Winery from Italy (above) follow me. Cool, right? That lasted until the next day, when it Unfollowed me. I had had enough of these creeps. I want real people to interact with, not make myself look ultra popular, not a company that’s hired a firm that says, “We’ll build up your Instagram account for you.” Some troll for hashtags that are related to their concerns, friend you, and the next day POOF! You evaporate.
I gave myself to them as a credible follower. I was played. but, never again… this same way.
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