If you say you don't notice/keep track of how many people follow you on Instagram, you are either a much cooler person than I am or lying. And if you haven't figured it out already, the more followers you gain, the more frequently people will unfollow you too. Ever since I wrote an article about my embarrassing Instagram truths, I've gained an influx of followers . . . only to watch them all slowly leave in little groups, every time I post something new. And God forbid I post a selfie. Then it's all over.
So in the past few weeks, I've been keeping an eye on what exactly makes people unfollow me the most. And the truth is, no matter what you or I post — people will unfollow you. Remember, you're just another random account to most everyone else who follows you. Everyone has their own reasons for unfollowing (or no reason at all), and you're probably never going to know those reasons. All in all, it's really not that important. It's superficial and silly, but something we've come to internally wonder about (whether we admit it or not) because social media is slowly taking over our lives/the world. Oh well.
It's true that you shouldn't care one bit about who unfollows you, because even if all you post is pictures of cute baby puggles and cupcakes, people are still going to decide that you're not their cup of tea (but if anyone out there actually has an Instagram account featuring nothing but puggles and cupcakes, please get in touch). However, if you're still curious as to the kinds of posts that will make you lose the most followers the quickest, here's what I've gathered from my incredibly unscientific observations.
1. Selfies
Holy cow, do people hate to see photos of other people's faces. Not sure if my fellow Instagrammers view it as self-obsessed or simply just obnoxious, but either way, post enough selfies, and people will simply flock away from you. At least this has been my experience. Maybe I'm just hideous. Also, if you post more than three in a week, let me warn you – it's game over. You are not Kim Kardashian. It will not end well for you.
2. Food
This can sort of go either way, and whether people ultimately choose to hate you and/or stop following you has a lot to do with the quality of the photo itself, but for some reason, people just find it annoying. Maybe it's just too cliché? Maybe they're dieting and jealous? Who knows? Either way, people don't like it.
3. More Than One Photo A Day
I went on a trip recently and ended up relaxing at the hotel room at one point, posting two back-to-back photos because I liked the scenery and was getting a little excited I guess. I lost 16 followers almost instantly. Stupid travel photos. They always seem like such a good idea at the time.
4. Cute Couple Photos
While your close friends may rejoice that you've finally found someone who understands your addiction to re-runs of Sister Wives and trips to Trader Joe's, I've discovered that the general public who follow you really don't care all that much. How dare you display your happiness and joy to the world! It's just not OK.
5. Bikini Photos
No one wants to see your flat stomach and perfectly sculpted arms/legs/everything jumping for joy in the middle of a (somehow) completely empty beach, OK? Enough of that. OK, this one is just what makes me unfollow people. It's a personal problem. #jealous
6. Contest Re-Grams
This happens a lot if you follow a lot of style bloggers on Instagram. And, yes, it seems great to have the opportunity to win a basket full of cute Lily Pulitzer stationary and Target gift cards, but when you see the same picture re-grammed in my feed 20 times, it gets a little annoying. Having said that, I do fully understand the appeal of winning some Target gift cards. So I try to cut everyone a little slack.
7. Posting 4,000 Consecutive Photos Of Your Baby
The first one? Cute. The second and third and fourth? Still cute, but getting a little old. It's true, babies are all adorable little miracles, and I like a precious "baby wearing parent's sunglasses" shot as much as the next gal (no, really, I live for that stuff), but some of you just really have to draw the line somewhere.
8. Sunsets
We're all guilty of it. And I guess that's sort of the problem. The sky just look so good, right? You can't help but document it, so everyone does. But people are sick of our sunsets, it seems. Who wants to see gorgeous shots of nature when we can see staged pictures of our closets and food and friends? Am I right?
9. Coffee
This one is sort of the same as sunsets, but oddly people respond better to coffee. Someone should do a study on that.
To end, it's important that I reiterate what I said at the beginning: Post what you love. If what you love happens to be your face or your baby or your baby's face, then proudly post away, my friends. Just don't take it personally when people start unfollowing you, because they probably will. Honestly, they're probably posting the same things, anyway.
Images: Giphy (9)
