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A few months ago, I did something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. I intentionally reduced my Instagram following from around 5,000 to a little over 2,000. I learned firsthand that unfollowing inactive Instagram followers can dramatically improve engagement, reach, and the overall health of your account.

At first glance, that sounds like moving backward. Social media has trained us to believe that growth only looks like numbers going up. More followers equals more success. But what I started to notice was that my engagement was off. My reach was inconsistent. My content was not landing the way it should have been.

Once I started removing inactive followers, everything changed.

The Algorithm Was Not the Problem, My Audience Was

After cleaning up my follower list, my engagement began to even out and steadily increase. The algorithm stopped pushing my content to people who were scrolling past it and started showing it to people who actually cared. People who followed, saved, commented, and engaged when they found my content.

That shift told me everything I needed to know.

Big numbers mean nothing if nobody is talking back.

Unfollowing Is Not Disrespectful, It Is Intentional

We need to normalize unfollowing, removing people, and blocking when necessary. Especially as creators.

The type of follower who praises your content in person but never engages online is not helping your growth. If someone does not interact with your work and does not support what you are building, they do not need access to your digital space.

If your intention is to protect your peace and the health of your platform, there is no reason to feel guilty.

For a long time, I genuinely thought I was the problem. I thought my content was not good enough. Come to find out, I had people hyping me up in real life while completely ignoring my work online. Once I started removing people I knew were not engaging, everything shifted.

When People Take Unfollows Personally

I have had several people I know in real life confront me about unfollowing them or removing them as followers. I have had to explain multiple times that if we truly have the connection we claim to have, me unfollowing you from my professional Instagram should not change that.

If we text, talk, or have spent time together in real life, that relationship still exists.

What I do not like is people wanting access without effort. Watching without participating. Wanting proximity without being a genuine part of the community. That does not sit right with me. If unfollowing inactive Instagram followers feels uncomfortable, that discomfort is often part of growth.

Community Requires Participation

I care deeply about community. I believe that if you want a village, you have to be willing to be a villager.

That is why I show love to everyone I follow. I follow and engage with intention. I want to see other people thrive and win. My goal was never to have a silent audience or to pretend I had a fan base I was not actually connected to.

I enjoy being in community with people who are genuinely interested in what each other are doing and honest when they are not.

That is also why I have a separate personal page. It allows me to stay connected with people I care about without forcing every relationship into my creator space.

The Proof Is in the Pudding

Every time I remove inactive followers, I gain new ones who immediately start engaging with my old content. My insights are trending upward. I am getting the same, if not more, likes and comments than I did when I had over 5,000 followers.

What does that tell us?

Engagement matters more than appearances.

I will never be guilted into keeping someone around for optics. We are all adults with goals and boundaries, and this is one of mine.

Quality over quantity. Always.

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