There are millions of blog posts and youtube videos saying, “watch how I grow my account using follow/unfollow method.” It can be quite tempting as it’s probably the most popular “trick” to grow your follower base in a quick and uncomplicated way. At least, this is how it may be seen – however, it is considered a growth method when it shouldn’t be in real life. 

If you don’t know what this tactic is about: people who practice it start following hundreds of different random profiles daily with one goal in mind: a follow in return. After a few days, the whole group of previously followed accounts is being unfollowed. It sounds unfair and pointless, and indeed it is, but many Instagram newbies believe it is the only rapid way to become an influencer or someone “valued” without putting real effort into the process. Let us tell you: it isn’t a shortcut; it’s an easy road to nowhere. Let’s discuss why we think so. 

Is a follow/unfollow method going to help you achieve a 10K account?

It may help you achieve 10 000 followers in a short period of time. But look at it more strategically – this community will be worthless. We’re highly passionate about building an authentic tribe, valuable connections, and veritable, objective growth, which will help you scale your personal brand or your business in the future. You won’t be able to do that with an uncommitted follower base: they won’t download or buy anything from you, even a freebie. You’ll gather too many random people who don’t care about your content, and they will most probably unfollow you soon because you didn’t evoke any stronger emotions in them (and from a psychological perspective: they need to feel some emotions in order to remember you and shape real connections). We’ve seen accounts with a follower base built with follow/unfollow method too many times: it shows because their engagement rate is really low, and you can tell that their followers couldn’t care less about anything they post. Don’t make the same mistake. 

1. It’s not worth the risk 

What are you risking? A lot. You may get your profile blocked because you’ll be most probably hitting the “follow” button too fast to get quicker results. The algorithm will detect that as a spammy action and see your behavior as highly suspicious. Yes, most times, it will be a temporary ban, but we have also heard about people having their accounts permanently banned after overusing the follow-unfollow method.

2. You’ll show disrespect for other users

Following people only for a while gives them false hope of growth and appreciation and can easily affect their mood. Owners of small accounts can get remarkably sad over overnight followers loss. They can get excited if they see that someone with an account bigger than theirs follows them, and then when you unfollow them so quickly, it can lead them to question their worth or the quality of content. We shouldn’t follow anyone with an intention to unfollow them, because let’s be more human and care for others’ feelings. 

3. You can lose trust 

You may think your actions will go unnoticed, and you can do it on the down-low. Still, the truth is: there are marketing agencies, influencer marketing agencies, and creatives from your niche watching you (you may even not know about them, as they often won’t follow you, just visit your profile once in a while), and the sudden growth of follower base will seem suspicious to them. Yes, they may think your content went viral, someone famous tagged you in their post, or you participated in some competition or giveaway, but the truth is: the smartest ones will notice what you’re doing. 

From our perspective and our experience (also from working with influencer marketing agencies!): the number of agencies caring for your action’s authenticity is increasing. It means many of them won’t ever like to work with people using unfair follower-gaining methods. And yes, they really check your engagement rate, so it’s better to focus on that factor.

4. It shows your motives – are you actually passionate about content creation and growing an authentic tribe around your personal brand? 

Don’t get us wrong – we understand the urge to grow a big Instagram account. We all do. But as we said before, don’t fall into the trap of wanting to achieve it too quickly. Do you want an optimistic tribe who supports you and genuinely waits for your new posts, cherishes your content creation, would like to buy something from you in the future and love seeing you share your expert knowledge? You won’t build that tribe by practicing the follow-unfollow method, be aware of that.

5. You’ll think about starting another account in the future

Think about the future: how will it feel to have a huge follower base and basically no one engaging with you? Don’t you think it will look strange? You may not analyze it now, but we have talked with many people with bought followers or follower base built using follow/unfollow method, and they openly admit: they regret it.

Their posts don’t attract new followers. The engagement rate is almost dead. The algorithm keeps hiding their posts because no one from their audience cares about them, so the algorithm notes this isn’t unique, exciting content, worth spreading and showing higher on new people’s feed.

The ugly truth: you’ll wish you hadn’t done it, and you’ll dream about having a smaller but engaged and authentic followers circle. You’ll start another account because you’ll think the one with this big but not authentic follower base looks fake. Don’t waste your time, and don’t put your energy into something completely unworthy. No one from truly influential people uses follow-unfollow methods – they don’t need it, and if you spend more time creating valuable HQ content, you won’t need it either. 

This tactic won’t set you up for true success, only for superficial, temporary results and vanity metrics. It’s much more rewarding to go slower, but invest your energy in practical actions that will help you grow an authentically engaged community. Don’t settle for cheap solutions. Huge numbers can look great, but they won’t make you proud when there isn’t anything standing behind them: they’re just fake numbers because no one is engaging with you or genuinely caring about your online presence.