Often times, I see people thanking others for following them on Twitter, a bad habit carried over from older types of media, in which the one being observed thanks the audience for observing.

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for following me!

However, when you come to think of it, people don’t follow you to do you a favor. They do it entirely for selfish purposes. They follow you because you give them information, because you entertainthem, because you answer questions for them (or that are at least relevant to them), because you give them something they want… Because you give them value.

Why_you_shouldn’t_thank

That’s right. The real value of a follow is the value you decide to give, not the other way around. If anything, they’re the ones that should thank you.

But I know… I get it. We’re the ones being observed, so we want to show them our fake humility so that they like us more. We’re so desperate to be liked, that we look for ways to boost that approval even in people that have already decided to listen to us. The risk we run in thanking people for following us is in thinking they’re the ones doing you a favor, when it’s actually quite the opposite.

You’re the one serving them, therefore the responsibility to be awesome, to deliver great content, to help, all of the above is entirely upon your shoulders. Stray away from this mission, and your online persona turns bland, self-serving and non-valuable.

Do you want your followers, subscribers and likers to like you more? Here’s what to do: Keep giving ‘em great stuff. Heck, give out your best stuff. And do it in volume. And for free.

Not only will they like you, they will thank you, reward you, and refer you to others that will follow you the same.

And no, I won’t thank you for reading this… But I do sincerely hope this was of value to you. 🙂

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