The “New” Best Way To Get 100 Followers

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​You’ll want to follow up on this

Perhaps you’ve heard of the many ways to gain followers — or, you could still be so new you haven’t heard of any. Either way, I’d like to introduce you to the new best way to gain followers.

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Dispelling The Arguments Here

No, it’s not follow-for-follow (f4f). I used to be on that bandwagon, and even got the attention of the new CEO in one of my articles about it. In a good way, I think. You can be the judge — here’s the link.
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But since that encounter, I’ve realized that f4f is a sinking ship. It’s doomed to failure, and nothing we say or do can save it.

This isn’t a judgment. This is fact.Now, I personally don’t mind f4f. Even with the bots, scam and spam — because I trust in the algorithm. If I don’t click, it doesn’t stick. And if I do, I can refine recommendations and remove the article, the author, and the publications offending my feed.

However, the future isn’t about what I want, or what I can work around or deal with. It’s about what’s best for the entire Medium community.

And I have to agree that f4f is NOT best for the Medium community as a whole.Thankfully, f4f wasn’t the only method available — or, at least it isn’t now!

Why f4f Isn’t Helpful For Medium

When people think about f4f, they think about this kind of thing:

Basically, it’s the comment of “I’ll only follow you if you follow me back (or first)” that is the hallmark of f4f. It perpetuates the idea of following as an exchange, rather than the gift that it is.

To put this in perspective, let’s think about follows as Christmas gifts.

There are gift exchanges and there are freely given gifts. But in this case, the gift is all the same; there’s no surprises under the wrapping paper, because everyone has the same thing to give.

Now, which one feels more meaningful?

Exchanging the gift may not be the worst thing in the world, but it’s definitely going to feel hollow compared to one given to us without any obligatory reciprocation prompting them to do so.

It’s Not About The Follower, It’s About The Followed

In f4f, the focus is on gaining followers but the real subject is the one being followed. In that sort of exchange, there’s less room for gratitude for the follow, and lowered standards for the followed.

That lowered standards is what Medium’s CEO is most worried about.

See, the whole idea for the 100 followers limit is to have a measurement from the community to approve of writers worthy of being in MPP. And it’s a low bar as-is. So exchanging follows without any regard for their content undermines that system.

That being said, it also isn’t a judgment about who or how YOU follow others.

I guess I can’t speak for Medium on this one, but I highly doubt the f4f hate has anything to do with whether you decide to follow someone for this reason or that. If you just want to support people without worrying about their content, that’s still your right to do.

It’s your follow button, after all.But when people make these reciprocal statements, it’s not about you following someone to support them. It’s about them requiring your support before they’ll even consider you. 

And it preys on those most vulnerable — those under 100 and still learning what Medium is all about.

New Members’ Opinions MatterNow, I really think Medium needs to do their part better when it comes to new members. But, their experiences are important. When they fail, the whole platform fails.

When their experience consists mainly of f4f obligations, their opinion of Medium is cold, stark, and dreary.
And then, they tell others how terrible their experience is/was.

You’ve seen the articles. And they gain traction, because the experience is so common. New writers are vulnerable to f4f, because it’s the promise of a community — but communities aren’t built on reciprocal obligation.

Communities are built on mutual respect and communication. The best communities never require any obligatory actions; their members act of their own accord, for the greater good of the community.

THAT is why the seemingly harmless f4f isn’t the best method anymore. Because it doesn’t cultivate mutual respect or communication.

So let’s look at what does.

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There’s A New Method In Town

This is what’s called the “follow-up” method. There are several versions of it, but the main theme is to encourage communication, or following up with other writers. In this method, each follow is a gift, never an obligation.

At a basic level, every aspect of follow-up involves engaging with others. The premise is that follows are earned, not expected.

In fact, one could say that the biggest difference here is that the choice is always left with the follower — this method never assumes or demands their participation.

Followers are free to choose based on their own criteria, whatever it may be (The Octogig inspired this part.😉)

There’s three basic ways you can go with follow-up:

1. Read, Clap, Comment, and Follow. Otherwise known as the engagement method. This is the most effective, but also the most time consuming. The community you create using this method will be strong, and “loyal” (not in reading all your articles, but in showing up regularly throughout your writing journey).
   
   
2. Follow Followers’ Follows (or Followers). Tongue twister! Maybe you like a little chaos in your feed — this is the method for you! Go to someone’s followers (or the people they’ve followed) and just randomly follow them. That’s it. The idea here is that some of them might notice you followed them, but any of them could show up on your feed. And if they have interesting stories, you’ll click and start engaging with them. This method also helps to reduce the echo chamber effect!
   
   
3. Make a meaningful request. This isn’t just a one-line “Follow me,” but part of a meaningful comment on someone’s article. If you want their follow, show them you have at least read what they wrote before asking. And if you decide to follow them, that’s a separate decision you’re free to make — just as they are free to decide whether to follow you. (It’s best to reserve this one for follower-related articles only, as it gets spammy elsewhere.)

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Using this method, you can still max out at the 125 follows a day (unless Medium changes that, too). Only this way, you can focus on growing a community — and that means you’ll gain readers along the way, too.

Let me know what you think!

Have you used the follow-up method already? Some elements used to be considered f4f, but didn’t really match the f4f foundations. So you might have been practicing follow-up without even realizing it!

Let me know what your results are! I’ve used this method on multiple accounts, and I’ve never been disappointed by it.

The results are fantastic, and rival f4f without compromising yours OR Medium’s integrity in the process. Give it a shot and see for yourself!

Until next time, follow each other, follow the dopamine, and follow yourself, always!

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