@jesterfeathers's post on Artfol
Is it a popular opinion that expecting follow for follow / f4f is rude?
I’m trying to put this gingerly, but isn’t it obvious that following with a specific expectation that that person will also follow “as payment” is an overreaching assumption? If I follow someone I can’t expect that they’ll automatically be as interested in me as I am in them...
I often see folks having to clarify that they “don’t do f4f” but I thought it was obvious that blackmailing someone into becoming mutuals is, to put it frankly, rude. Am I the only one who thinks expecting f4f from a stranger, who did not agree to this as a condition of being followed, is rude? Aita?Jul 9, 2021
I’m trying to put this gingerly, but isn’t it obvious that following with a specific expectation that that person will also follow “as payment” is an overreaching assumption? If I follow someone I can’t expect that they’ll automatically be as interested in me as I am in them...
I often see folks having to clarify that they “don’t do f4f” but I thought it was obvious that blackmailing someone into becoming mutuals is, to put it frankly, rude. Am I the only one who thinks expecting f4f from a stranger, who did not agree to this as a condition of being followed, is rude? Aita?Jul 9, 2021#question
#aita
#questions
Comments
F4F for me it’s rude because it could be a bot or a person who will just unfollow me in the end.
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I think a lot of it is just younger artists seeking friends/validation via peers. It's awkward for the person on the receiving end but I guess just let them be, ignore it, and just keep on going like a more mature person.
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•Whenever someone follows me, I always feel sorta bad if I don’t follow them back, idk I just can’t help it but I don’t think asking for f4f is rude nor is expecting it. But I feel nobody should expect f4f just because they do it
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I also don't like it. I say it's more of an obligation than genuine appreciation, and thus becomes like a payless job with no guarantee of success. Yes you may get more followers that way, but who would really stick in the long run?
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•i think its obnoxious but for the most part i completely ignore those comments and go on with my day, despite my annoyance
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•(Lmao reddit vibes, i can't escape them) i very much live under the rule of "if you follow me in expectancy of me following you back, then you're the stupid one." Always have and always will. I honestly don't even always follow the people I am actually interacting with in DMs for example, especially not on my art accounts. I get how that can come across as rude, but it does not mean that i don't value the person I'm interacting with, i just have a very narrow visual interest as to what kind of art i want to be greeted with when i open an app and I oftentimes find myself separating my interest in a person from the interest in their art. I have followed some people on insta for half a decade without ever having interacted with them and have similarly made friends in DMs that i only started to actually follow years later.
I get how for an artist who wants to build an audience and get into the employment/comission sector of art followers are very important, however there seems to be a law of "followers=success & importance &the only way i can justify being proud of what I'm creating" ingrained in the heads of most of the people on social media, not only artists.
.....i forgot what my point was if there ever was one to begin with but yeah, maybe yta in the eyes of modern day social media society, but definitely nta from every other point of view. Rant over :)
I get how for an artist who wants to build an audience and get into the employment/comission sector of art followers are very important, however there seems to be a law of "followers=success & importance &the only way i can justify being proud of what I'm creating" ingrained in the heads of most of the people on social media, not only artists.
.....i forgot what my point was if there ever was one to begin with but yeah, maybe yta in the eyes of modern day social media society, but definitely nta from every other point of view. Rant over :)
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I think it’s rude when someone follows me and unfollows me the next day because they’re looking to boost their follower count but otherwise don’t like my content. Or when they follow and then message something along the lines of “follow back pls 
” when they have no content
” when they have no content•
•Yep, you should only follow other for their content or personality.
Anything else just feels fake and forced tbh.
Anything else just feels fake and forced tbh.
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