21/08/2026
Instagram has convinced us that more followers = more success… but 1,000 followers who scroll straight past you aren’t necessarily better than 500 who actually give a shh!t. 🫠
Engagement matters. Likes, comments, shares, saves, story replies.. those tiny little interactions tell Instagram “hey, people actually want to see this.”
& when a huge chunk of your audience consistently ignores your content? Well… Instagram takes notes. Seriously they do 👀
So I’ve started cleaning house. 🧹
So far, 50 followers are gone.. a combo of bots, AI profiles, people who appeared for a freebie and then vanished into the abyss, lol & yes… even people I know IRL who seem very committed to keeping tabs on what I’m doing, but apparently liking a post would be a bridge too far. 😂
Tbh I don’t care if I end up back at 500 followers.
Because somewhere along the way, small businesses became so obsessed with growing an audience that we forgot the goal was to build a community.
Behind every post is a real person. Someone photographing products, editing reels, writing captions, packing orders, designing new things, second-guessing themselves, celebrating every sale and wondering why the post they spent two hours making reached approximately 14 people 🥲
I would genuinely rather have 500 people who want to be here than 1,500 who are just watching from the sidelines.
So if you haven't ever engaged, consider this your affectionate warning 😂 If you enjoy following along, love seeing what I'm creating, want to support Zejt or simply want to stick around: engage with me. You don't need to buy anything. A like, comment, share, story reaction… it all counts, and it costs absolutely nothing. 🫶🏼
And if you've been silently lurking for the last year…
this is your final boarding call. 😂✈️
The follower purge continues. 🧹
Post inspired by Michelle Barber