So, about a couple of months ago, I posted an interactive discussion on my blog about what makes people follow book blogs and suprisingly, that post became my most popular post till date. I mentioned in that discussion that I would probably do another post on why people unfollow book blogs, and today I thought to myself : why not now?
So this post is going to be about reasons why I unfollow book blogs. This post too, like the previous one, is going to be an interactive discussion. I want to know all the reasons why YOU unfollow blogs, and how you decide these things!
[Also : This post is NOT created to spread negativity.]
I unfollow blogs quite liberally. I know a lot of people here look down about bloggers unfollowing other bloggers, but I have reasons to do so and I’ve never, till date, felt sorry or guilty over unfollowing any blog. Below are five reasons why I unfollow blogs :
Inactivity
One regular habit I have is go through all the blogs I follow every 2-3 months, and check out what all the blogs have been posting and how often they post. The one things which immediately makes me unfollow blogs is if they haven’t posted in over 20 days. I get that bloggers have lives and they get busy but inactivity really bugs me. And I’m not even saying that everyone has to post daily, but making an appearance once a week simply shows that you care. It’s a different story if you have already announced a hiatus and you’re in need of a break, but disappearing without a word for a month just shows negligence.
Steering Away from the Topic of the Blog
If your blog is a book blog, but you suddenly pop up this new feature which has nothing to do with books, and regularly keep featuring such unrelated things, there is a high chance I might just hit the unfollow. I am very particular about the content I like to see on my feed, and when a blog consistently posts things which are unrelated to books and not so very interesting (to me) then I don’t see the point of following the blog. Posting random things once in a while is okay, but if you post it every other day, then sorry but I’d rather not follow you and scrool through your post every time I open my feed!
Reviewing Books I’m Not Interested In
This might come off as shallow, but it’s how I am. The most informative/important aspect of a book blog is book reviews. So of course, I’d only really be interested in a book blog if it posts reveiws of books I know about/want to know about/am interested in. If a book blog suddenly starts posting reviews of books I’ve never heard of, then there is high chance that I end up unfollowing it, because I’m not really getting any new/important information from the blog. I’m not saying that a book blog always has to post reviews of popular books, but if suddenly, the blogger stars posting reviews of only new adult books, then there’s a high chance I’m unfollowing.
Undoing the Impulsive Follows
If you read my blog post of why I follow book blogs, you probably know that aesthetics matter to me. Whenever I see a book blog that is exceptionally pretty, I usually hit the follow button, after making sure that the blogger is regular and the interests match mine. However, once the posts start appearing in my feed, anytime I notice something off in the blog – like the writing, or the tone of the blogger – I tend to unfollow. If I’m not a fan of the writing, or the way the blogger structures his/her posts and what all the blogger posts, then it’s basically cue for me to undo my impulsive action – and unfollow.
Not Commenting Back
I get that bloggers can get busy too, but can’t you take out even one day to answer your comments? Or, at least, acknowledge them? I sometime fall behind on commenting back too, and I’m late in replying too and often mess up things, but bloggers who just don’t give a fuck are really annoying. What’s even more annoying is when bloggers reply selectively to comments. That is so unfair. Honestly, not replying to comments shows neglect and meanness, and I don’t even care that I myself am coming off as mean right now – but it is how it is. Sigh.
So those were the five reasons why I end up unfollowing book blogs!
Going Through Books 
I unfollow bloggers who follow me, comment continuously till i follow back and then vanish. That I know is not out of interest and I don’t want to follow someone who is that selfish or rude. But apart from that a blog that only posts about YA since I don’t read much of it. I don’t think it’s anything to feel guilty for! Like you said, better to follow someone interesting than scroll past every time.
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Yes I hate that too! I usually experience that more on bookstagram, when people keep liking photos and follow, then regardless of whether I follow back or not, they unfollow within a few days. That is so annoying. And yes, better to follow blogs you genuinely like that to scroll past your feed :)
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Oh that happens so much on Instagram. Especially more when they like maybe 20 pictures in a go and you don’t follow back they actually make the effort to unlike everything. Hahaha. So much time on their hands
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Yeah exactly lol! :D
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I don’t see anything wrong in unfollowing blogs. I think it’s important to follow a lot of blogs when you first start out, as its a great way to interact with other bloggers and get introduced to a different variety of blogs. However, I also feel that it makes sense to unfollow some of them after a while, especially if they regularly post about things that don’t really interest or apply to you. I don’t particularly care if they post regularly or not, as I was one of the ones who took a break over the summer when I was in a reading rut. But if they’ve been inactive for more than 2 months, they’re probably not coming back so I’ll probably unfollow at that point. Reading this post is actually making me realize I need to clean up my follows a bit, so thanks for that haha! :)
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Haha you’re welcome! :) Yes, following blogs when you start out is important because it helps in increasing communication but after a while, if one is genuinely not interested in a blog, then there’s no point to keep following it because it’s futile both to you and the blogger. So yeah, unfollowing is definitely the better option.
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This is a great post! I’m not really an unfollower (is that a word? I guess it is now 😉 ) but all your arguments are legitimate and fair. I think not replying to comments is the biggest one for me- it’s just courteous to acknowledge people (bit even then, I guess I don’t remember every comment to expect replies all the time) still, I do get you any impulsive follows
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Thanks! Yes, not replying to comments really bugs me, and even if the reply takes long – a simple acknowledgment is at least better than not reverting back ever.
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You’re welcome! I know right! Very annoying!
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I agree with all these above.Especially the fact about inactivity.
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Yes ikr!
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I honestly could NOT agree more with everything you’ve said in your post! EPIC! & I’m sure it’s something that other bloggers can understand. I myself like to do a bit of blog cleaning every once in a while. It’s necessary because there’s nothing more that I hate than scrolling through my Feed, bypassing bloggers I know I don’t share anything in common with. It’s much easier to talk to someone when you have a common interest & as a person who has a hard time doing this in person, I depend on communicating about my love for books, on my blog. If you’re someone who only reads the 1 genre that I never have or will p/u then it’s only fair to you & myself that we unfollow ;)
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Thank you! Blog cleaning is definitely a must, because scrolling past someone’s post because you’re not interested in it is futile to both you and the blogger. And yes, there definitely should be something common to talk about otherwise there isn’t really any point in following :)
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I think everything here is fair – although to the last point I’d say that it depends on how long we’re talking about. For me, I don’t always get the chance to reply even in the same week to comments (although I will always ‘like’ them to show I’ve read them) and I’ll usually reply in batches to comments over the past month. Obviously there’s a big difference between not reply for a couple of days and not replying for three months (assuming the comment needs responding to and is more than a ‘good post’ comment, because it can be difficult to respond to comments that don’t necessarily require a response).
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But by the time you get around to replying, the person you’re replying to meet not remember the review. Bloggers tend to read a ton of reviews.
I keep an easy-to-use spreadsheet and write the date when someone likes or comments on my post. This takes almost no time, but I can see how long it’s been since someone stopped by. If a reviewer starts writing vague posts and taking about how much they loved hated the book, but they can’t really explain why…well, to me, that means they shouldn’t be writing a blog post. I also stop following people whose reviews are really short or who don’t provide reasons for their refund or whose writing is pretty bad.
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Why did I write on my phone?? Now there are plenty of typos 😑
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Haha no problem :)
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Yes that happens to me a lot – a lot of times, when the blogger is late in replying back, I often forget what my original comment had been on 😅 But that can’t be helped, we need to understand that bloggers might get busy.
I too really dislike people who say that the loved/hated a book but fail to explain why. In fact, I think I even mentioned this in one of my posts sometime back. I need proper explanation of how the book actually is, than what and how you felt about it. Bloggers who fangirl without delving into reasoning are also turn offs for me.
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It comes down to a time thing – I don’t want to give a vague or worthless reply to a comment. This sometimes means it takes me longer to reply than I would like, but that’s just life. I agree with the vague writing point, though – if someone can’t explain why they liked or disliked something, it doesn’t help someone trying to find out if the book is worth reading.
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Well yes, of course the amount of time is relative – and I’d say that if one replies within a week, then that’s good enough. But then, sometimes comments get lost in the spam (wonder what WordPress is going to do about that) so I understand it might take longer. But bloggers who consistently never reply back is what I have a problem with. Even if you take time to reply, at least you like the comment which shows you’ve read it – but I’ve seen a lot of bloggers who just don’t care!
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Definitely agree on the spam point, too… that can be a real pain when suddenly there are loads of relevant comments being classed as spam.
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Exactly! 😩
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I completely agree with you on all of your points. Some bloggers I couldn’t connect with their writing or didn’t like their review style or the type of books they read. If I can’t find some commonality with a person, I unfollow. I also don’t like blogs that post all memes and tags. That’s a real turn off for me. I like discussion posts, tips for bloggers, and reviews. I’m not on here to read one hundred memes or tags every week. I actually had a blogger do the same thing you’re talking about to me last night. She kept following me on my blog and Instagram and then unfollowing me until I’d follow her back and left weird comments. That only told me that she’s looking for followers and doesn’t care where they come from. That doesn’t appeal to me at all. I do this to talk to people about books not to collect followers. Great post! :)
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Thanks! I also tend to dislike blogs who keep posting memes and tags. I mean I get it – they are fun, but you’re taking away the informative aspect of your blog. I too LOVE discussions and reviews of course. And yep, people who follow just to gain followers and then later unfollow are exhausting 😕 And that especially occurs a LOT on Instagram.
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I try to only post one meme or less per week. Sometimes I go weeks without posting one. I stopped doing tags about 3 months ago. I didn’t think they added anything to my blog at all. Discussions are great. This was a wonderful discussion. :) I don’t get the people who only want followers and they’re rude about it. They actually ask you follow for a follow. It’s such a turn off and so rude.
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Haha yes ikr! That’s a turn off and really rude too. Even I try to limit the memes I post, mainly because they’re widely popular and don’t really add anything ‘new’ to the blogosphere. And thanks!
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I don’t tend to unfollow blogs because I only follow bloggers who I really, really like, but I totally understand where you’re coming from. Great discussion topic!
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Thank you so much!
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I don’t believe there’s anything at all wrong with unfollowing a blog, especially if you’re not enjoying or interested in the content being posted. That’s pretty much the only reason I’ll unfollow a blog… is if a blog continually posts content that I have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. Great post!
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Thanks! And yes, if you’re genuinely not interested in the blogger’s content, then it’s a favor both to you and the blogger to just unfollow :)
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I am new to the whole blogging community but I generally don’t unfollow people after I have followed them. Since I started my blog have only unfollowed one person and the only reason I did that is because they started writing in a language I don’t know. Before I follow a blog I generally will go through their previous posts to see if they are posting stuff that I am interested in if they are then I follow them if not then I just move on. The only other reason I would unfollow someone is if they have been inactive for quite a while and that’s pretty much it. I don’t judge someones blog by how it looks or anything because speaking from experience your not always capable of making your blog look fancy and professional. I do however understand the other reasons you mentioned. I guess maybe because I am so new at this it really doesn’t bother me that much.
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Well yeah, what you do is actually the right way to go about it – following blogs you genuinely like. I too follow blogs I really like but if suddenly the content changes, and I don’t like the change, then I tend to unfollow. It’s a favor to me as well as the blogger, and it’s better than scrolling past the blogger’s posts every time. Also, judging a book by its looks is terrible (especially considering my own blog doesn’t look that good) but pretty things are my weakness 😅
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I completely agree with you. I guess because I am so new at this I find myself feeling bad for following someone and then eventually unfollowing them for whatever reason. After reading this post though it has given me the (for lack of a better word) “courage” to actually unfollow people who’s content I am no longer interested in.
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Don’t feel bad! It’s natural and everyone does it :)
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I actually did an unfollow spree a day ago, like a huge one (I unfollowed like almost 100 blogs) because I was very overwhelmed with the amount of posts in my Reader. At first, I was so anxious to do it but at the same time I felt like it was necessary to do so especially when I really don’t care and want to read what the posts of that blog. I mainly unfollowed blogs that were reviewing books that I didn’t like or from genres I don’t read. I also unfollow inactive blogs, though I’m pretty guilty on being inactive at times too. This is really a great discussion post, because it makes us all realize that there’s really nothing wrong about unfollowing if it’s all for good reasons. 😉💕
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Thank you! And yes, of course, if you have a good enough reason, there’s nothing wrong with unfollowing book blogs. I also agree with how the amount of posts in your Reader can be pretty overwhelming – I know it is for me 😅
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*laughs nervously* I feel like I fall into the flock that goes into unintended hiatuses. Usually school just eats up ALL of my time even when it’s unintentional and I hardly have time to sleep let alone draft up a blog post. I’m trying to do a little bit better now, drafting a slew of posts when I have time and then scheduling them later. Since I’m so bad at posting regularly I find it hard to go through the blogs that I follow. I will be honest there are quite a few I followed when I first started that I don’t really read anymore and I should probably unfollow them, but I just haven’t had the time to go through them :/
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I’m sorry I completely missed this comment 😢 Yeah well school is tough and it’s getting harder day by day for me too, especially since my boards are nearing, but I try to post at least once a week ☺
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Ohhh I agree with most reasons in it, but I also have some exception :P like there is a blogger who always posts reviews of books I literally never hear about, but her discussion posts are super great! So funny and thought provoking and she’s also super nice, so I keep following her haha I also unfollow some blogs which contents are mostly consisted of tags/memes/blog tours, especially when it is excerpt & cover reveal. It doesn’t tell me anything I don’t already know anyway :’) and YES to never replying to comment!! It’s weird, like, why would you start a discussion if you don’t reply when people actually want to discuss something?? Great post! <3
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Yah well if the blogger has good discussions and overall really good content, then I suppose it’s alright to keep following her in spite of the reviews. I too don’t like bloggers who consistently post tags and memes and oh god those cover reveals! 😬 I can’t stand them 😅 And yep, not replying seems to be a popular turn off for everyone.
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I love this post! I don’t really unfollow book blogs or check if the ones I do follow post regularly which is my my WordPress dashboard is usually an absolute mess. If I notice a post that I don’t think is interesting, I’ll visit the blog and see if all their posts are related to topics I’m not interested in and then unfollow. In general though, I follow a lot of blogs which is why I often don’t get to read all the posts blogs I really enjoy post. Actually, this post has made me want to go through my Following list and edit it a bit. :P
I really loved this discussion post! It’s another one that got lost in my dashboard and I only noticed it when I came to your blog :P
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Haha thank you! And yes, I like to unfollow blogs because like you said, there just becomes too many posts in your dashboard and I hate that kind of clutter 😨
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This is a great post! Honestly as a blogger with not a lot of followers, it does suck when someone hits unfollow, which is probably where a lot of people who say “unfollowers are rude/unfair” are coming from. But I totally agree that blogs who post irrelevant content are likely to get unfollowed, because there are people that I get frustrated scrolling past in my reader :)
That’s the only time I bother to unfollow, I never thought to actively go through and look, so I’m probably following a lit of inactive blogs!
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Yeah well scrolling down posts can be really annoying. And I know that there’s this notion that unfollowers are rude, but everyone does it all the same and if you really think about it, there’s nothing really wrong with it.
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Yes, I agree, and it’s better to have half the followers that actually read than many that just ignore you!
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I am new to book blogging and this post, along with your “what makes you follow…” helped me a lot! I also really like the way your blog looks, very neat and clean.
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Thank you so much, this really means a lot to me! :)
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It’s a pretty nice post (:
Have ya heard of twintalesbookreview.wordpress.com?
They’re amazzzzzing *. *
I have pseudo book blog imo. Check it out if ya like it. Suggestions are Welcome (:
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Thanks!
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I think these reasons are pretty valid. When I unfollow a blog, it’s often because the blogger started posting things I’m no longer interested in, whether that’s a ton of memes, reviews of a genre I don’t read, or lots of posts that aren’t even about books. I don’t really do unfollow sprees, but if I notice I’ve been skipping over a particular blogger’s posts in my feed for months and haven’t read a single one, I’ll unfollow.
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Yes I too tend to unfollow if I’ve been skipping over a blog’s posts a lot lately; it seems futile to keep following if nothing really interests you in that blog!
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I’m new to the book blogging community and I been on and off of it for a while. I found that I still got likes and followers even during my inactivity, but I do get more when I am active. It’s hard to find the time to post things, but now it should be easier since I am doing my blogging for a class. One reason I almost stopped following people was because of all the emails I got from this website that stated when someone posted something, but luckily I figured out how to stop the emails.
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Oh yes those emails bug me too! Hope you enjoy and get time for blogging :)
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Love this post! I unfollow for nearly all these reasons as well but mainly the last not commenting back, I mean if I take the time to write a thoughtful comment I’d at least like a reply back, I also may unfollow if I write a long comment and only get a Thank you back like we all know were busy we do the same things but just do what I (and a lot of people) do and wait till later that day if you don’t have the time to respond properly. The whole point of blogging to me is to have conversations so when they aren’t given back it’s just a bit of a bummer!
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Yes definitely. When someone writes a long comment, they expect back a coherent, decent-sized comment which is at least a few lines long. Even I get mildly offended when I don’t get a proper reply for a comment I took time to write out!
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