Genuine might be the magic word. I’m by no means big on X, but I get some likes and comments now, and most of them just feel like people are trying to engagement farm. If had it many times that someone posted a question that seemed genuine, but once I answered, they simply wanted to sell me their services. Experiencing this from the other side of the interaction made me stop replying to other people’s content as well.

Say something when you can actually help people or are genuinely a fan, but otherwise not saying anything is way better than trying to engagement farm.

You can follow my Grok Diary in real time here: @michael_brig

Has follow for re-follow every worked online? I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather have one genuine follower who interacts with my content than 1,000 fake followers who just want the re-follow.

You can follow my Grok Diary in real time here: @michael_brig

See, reels, character quotes, and carousel ranking tropes – this advice might work, but it makes Instagram feel like yet another platform to “work” on. Wasn’t the idea to just have a platform to connect with your community?

I get it, to connect with people you first need to have a community. But this entire sales approach to social media is something that I don’t really enjoy. When I check someone’s social media, I know that person from books, videos, music or a blog. Social media is just an extension for me to get to know the person a bit better. Maybe this idea of social media is from a different time, but I don’t want to do anything online as a “creator” that I wouldn’t want to see as a “consumer”.

Me the book reader wouldn’t read someone’s Instagram for reels and carousel ranking tropes. I want to see some personal stuff of the authors that I read anyway. Book recommendations are fine here and there, but make it authentic and honest instead of creating yet another marketing piece.

That is just my take. But as this is my project, my take will determine what I do on social media. And carousel posts, character quotes, and annoying reels aren’t it.

You can follow my Grok Diary in real time here: @michael_brig