I got a comment on one of my Instagram accounts. “Cool profile. Check mine out.” This is someone who is both a stranger and not a follower, but they clicked ‘like’ on a couple of my photos. All right, I’ll be polite and look at that profile.
Their profile is full of memes. I don’t follow IG accounts that are full of memes, because that is not what I am on IG to see. I won’t be liking or following their profile.
Their approach may work for some people, but it makes no sense to me. They aren’t the only person who does that, either. Except for a handful of accounts I follow purely out of loyalty to the people using them, I don’t follow meme-y accounts. I also don’t follow the accounts of people who do not follow me and who pop into my comments asking me to check out their profiles. Leave me meaningful commentary on the photos you like. Do it regularly. Your genuine interest in my content will make me curious enough about you to check out your profile on my own. If your content interests me, I will follow you without you asking me to.
As a general rule of thumb I have found the people who make time to regularly, meaningfully interact with my content usually post content that interests me in turn. Those who pop up out of the blue asking me to follow them usually do not.
I recognize I probably use social media differently than most people do. I am more interested in people than content, though content in my interest groups will draw me in even if I am not curious about the person behind the content. But for the most part if I am following your account, and especially if I comment somewhat regularly on your account, I am interested in the person behind the account.
And as a related note, if the interest/interaction is not reciprocated, I will probably go away at some point so I can focus more time and energy on the people who do reciprocate. This is why I can count the number of celebrity accounts I follow on one hand.