Gray’s Anatomy – Like my golf, are my follower numbers on the slide?
Unbelievably Friday has come around again so quickly and of course that means just one thing at theappwhisperer.com HQ, Richard Gray and his awesome humorous Gray’s Anatomy column, just perfect to get you in the right mood for the weekend.
This time Richard laments his ‘peak’ at least in regards to Instagram followers, I don’t think he has anything to worry about, from personal experience, I would advise, slow down, don’t be impatient, the followers will return, you haven’t ‘peaked’ yet 😉 Don’t miss this… (foreword by Joanne Carter).
© Richard Gray – ‘On an inevitable slide: did this photo mark the peak of my follower numbers?’
As I turned in for bed on Sunday night, I had a quick check of my Instagram stream (I’d posted a couple of what I thought were quite good photos from my round of golf during the day) and with a slight resigned sadness, I noticed my follower numbers tick downward below 2,600. Statigram tells me my follower growth in the last month is minus 5. I’m wondering if I’ve hit my follower peak and, like many other parts of my life (my golf handicap is nudging up too), am now on an inevitable slide.
I’d seen lists of tips on how to get more followers. Did any of them list "Don’t post any photos"? It seems my two photos that day had reminded some of my followers of my existence. And they unfollowed. I’m not a super user by any stretch of the imagination but I don’t want to follow more than 300 or so people (because I do like to interact with the people I follow but I want to keep on top of the paperwork), so inevitably I don’t follow back a large chunk of my 2,600 (now slightly fewer) followers. And one of the tips on many of those lists is "Follow people, as many of them will follow back". I’m not one of those people.
Of course, as I’ve mentioned here, you can only get big follower numbers if you’re on a suggested user list. The main one is Instagram’s suggested user list which pretty much guarantees 5- or 6-digit numbers, however good your photos are. But there are others. My heyday of follower growth was when I was briefly on a suggested user list somewhere in India until I said something slightly derogatory about Instagram in my blog and was removed.
There’s a guy in New York called @arnold_daniel on Instagram. Until recently his profile picture was a middle finger. He never replies to any comments and he has a website called whentosaynothing.com. Needless to say he doesn’t follow me back. Why do I follow him? Because he takes great street photos and is a real inspiration. Personally, I like getting comments from other people on Instagram (and replying to them) but, at the end of the day, isn’t it mainly about the photos?
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
