Facing my fears: I deleted all of "my followers"... why?
Please #Don'tFollowMe
This past week, I’ve been working on something that might seem very criminally insane in our digital world:
I removed every single one of my followers on Instagram.
Yes, you’re seeing this right... My follower count now awkwardly sits at zero, and on the @philosofounder Instagram page, and I intend to keep it that way…
For the past 3 years, I've been grappling with the subtle, yet profound, ways social media platforms have rewired our understanding of self, connection, and value. We've inherited a digital landscape built on metrics, where "followers" are the currency of perceived worth, and "likes" dictate our values. We're encouraged to perform, to curate a palatable version of ourselves, and to constantly chase external validation even from peers. In the world of markets, I don’t see anything wrong with this. But in a world of intrapersonal relations and genuine connection, I do.
As of right now, I am not a celebrity. I am not an icon. And most importantly, I am not a commodity. I am a human being, who’s a unique constellation of elements, with a desire for genuine connection, not transactional or performed engagement. The very concept of having "followers" reduces us all into the process of marketing ourselves through our content and consumption, which defeats the true purpose of these platforms. It turns people into products, and our shared moments into data points to be monetized. As many wise writers have said, we’ve become products with labels, our complex identities flattened into marketable categories.
I love love love the purpose of social media, and I will continue to post things because it's a great medium to share and archive eras of my life, my favorite music, memories, and things I’m interested in url to inspire action in my life— but the status quo rarely fosters genuine connection for me. And thus, I needed to liberate myself from toxic traditions that kept me from using platforms as they were meant to be used.
When you think about what you want to post how much of your time is spent signaling status versus truly sharing what you love, regardless of the "like" count? When present online, how much of your energy goes into surveilling the lives of others versus creating your own content and feed you love? In some ways, it reminds me of what Ayishat Akanbi said about digital group-speak, where our voices are outsourced to what performs well, not what feels true. I know what my answer is, and it was a wake-up call to do something differently with my online presence.
Ever since my senior year of high school, when I had 2.6K followers, I'd been searching for ways to rebel against this corrupting system. I’ve tried radically being myself, posting whatever I wanted, removing inauthentic people from my page, cutting out social media from my life at certain times; and it all became a great filter… but those were all performances of resistance. Radical action was needed. So I'm done catering to algorithms; I simply will participate on my own terms. My personal account will remain public, but it is no longer for sale.
It's about liberation. It's about choosing quality over quantity, always. If you relate to the things I post, the music I share, the opinions I have (or disagree with), and are nearby – reach out to me. That's what social media should be for: true connection that honors human complexity and vulnerability, not bad mimicry that keeps us trapped in attention cycles and status competitions.
If you, like me, feel social media companies are rewiring us as humans in the worst ways – how can you live outside of metrics and prioritize your truth? This is my way. It's only a single step towards building digital spaces where authenticity thrives, where connections inspire, and where our inner compass guides us, not the infinite scroll. We must be brave enough to live out our truths regardless of how others may feel: this is to leave ourselves unsolved, to resist categorizing every facet of our being, and being intention with how we curate our worlds. Our deepest selves are not symptoms; they are mysteries for us to piece together and explore throughout our lives.
This is a call to action, not necessarily to delete all of your own followers, but to reflect on what you're truly seeking online. If you’re building a brand, step into that. If you’re selling a product, step into that. But if you’re just showing up as you, then step into expression no matter the cost.
Are you ready? #DontFollowMe
Inspirations/References:
Things Hidden Since The Foundation Of The World, Rene Girard
The offensiveness of group-speak, Ayishat Akanbi
Nobody Has A Personality Anymore, Freya India
Zero To One, Peter Thiel
Contact me at mackenziemichellefisher@gmail.com if you relate to any of this or would like to talk more!
Call Me: (864)-907-9757 - I don’t bite, and love convos so just do it man!
IRL: SF in South Park @Nautilus (lets get drinks/snacks, talk, and chill)
X as @philosofounder (girard 4 techbros)
Insta also as @philosofounder (mi vida loca)
Spotify as @mkhastaste (listening party?)
(in need of a new book/film app but I love those too)