A friend posted this on Facebook. 

Out of concern, I reacted to the post with a "care" emoji and asked if he's okay—which was met with a "haha" reaction followed by an "OK kaayo!"

I was puzzled with the reply but I just shrugged it off. Not my business anyway.

Out of the 1,200 people on my friends list, another one posted something similar a few days later.

I thought it was just another trend that I wasn't aware of. You should know how ignorant I am when it comes to this. I learned what 'awit' means just last year—a Gen Z term that started about 4 years ago.  And don't start me with forda ferson, for today's video, the design is very, [insert a word] pa more, amaccana accla, and whatever banat you have there. 

I do spend a lot of time on Facebook, but it's honestly difficult to keep track of all these catch phrases. Probably because the friends I interact with, whether online or in person, do not use such language. I swear, when I go deep in the comments section, I would need an alien decoder or something. I get lost in translation whenever I come across one, but I am also too lazy to look it up and never even bothered to ask.

So I went back to the post, which by that time had already received a number of comments that read: "legit resbaker here", "done po, pa follow back", "count me in", "pa-follow po sa reels para organic", "payakap din po, dami ko na follow wala naman resbak". 

Oh, I see.

I understand that several people, including myself, want to make money by creating content. Who doesn't? While I don't monetize my content on Facebook, I do make money from ads, affiliates, collabs, sponsored posts, and campaigns on my blogs and on different social media platforms. I don't earn that much but it's enough to fund my growing Dr. Martens collection (I now have 9 pairs since 2023 and counting 😅). So I guess, even though I do not have a lot of followers and I am not a household name, I can take a stab at this. I am addressing this not just to my two friends, but to everyone out there who is on the follow-for-follow train.

You see, most of my friends on Facebook are professional bloggers, vloggers, influencers, and content creators from all over the country. By professional, I mean they get paid to create content through brand collaborations. But not one of them does this follow-for-follow strategy because we all know that this would hurt our accounts more than it would help.

Why do I say so? Because you are building pseudo-followers. Simply put, your followers are only following you in the hopes of getting a follow back. There is nothing organic about that. You are only growing numbers, not connections. Are they interested in your content? I am sorry to say, but not in any way.

The number of your followers can make your profile/page look impressive. But if the gap of your follower-to-engagement ratio is high, your content would be flagged low quality by the algorithm, which could push your posts to fewer people, reducing your visibility. Ever wondered why despite having thousands of followers your reels barely get a hundred views? Then you resort to tagging @everyone on Facebook, which—unless is an emergency, crowdsourcing, or a giveaway—is as welcome as an annoying Monday morning alarm that will drag you out of that weekend bliss.

In over a decade of blogging, I've worked with various brands and agencies. I've been invited to events and product launchings, received PR kits and tokens, enjoyed all-expense paid trips (both local and international), availed luxury services for free, and have been paid to publish press releases (check out my other blog, Davao City Life) and social media postings (some were on my Instagram). And it's not because I have a great number of followers. I can confidently say it's because of what I bring to the table. 

I write.

I write to express. I write to inspire, move, share, and connect. I write just because. I write because it's what I love to do. And I do it with or without readers, with or without pay. While I know there's still plenty of room for improvement, I also acknowledge that it's what I'm good at. And that's exactly the reason why I am still here, even though blogging seems to be a dying art.

Similarly, if you think you are naturally talented at making people laugh, perhaps you would want to create funny skits. If you have an interesting hobby, why not showcase it to the world? If you have a flair for fashion, how about sharing your styling hacks and OOTDs? If you are a foodie, you might want to document and share your new dining experiences. If you love to travel, take us on your journey with your photos.

What I'm trying to say is, PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS, DO WHAT YOU LOVE, and DO IT CONSISTENTLY even if you think no one is reading/watching you. Follow-for-follow might offer a shortcut or a quick boost in numbers, but if you want to stay long in the content creation industry, invest in the long-term effort of creating a valuable work and authentic connections. With the right content and timing, you will grow too. And the success, opportunities, and money will just come knocking at your door. 😉