A follower is a person or account that subscribes to see updates from another social media account.
Followers are a useful audience signal, but they do not guarantee reach or engagement on every post.
A smaller engaged following can be more valuable than a large inactive audience.
Follower quality matters more than count alone, so teams should look at whether followers match the target audience and continue engaging over time.
No. Ranked feeds mean each post reaches only a fraction of followers, typically those most likely to engage based on their past behavior.
Occasionally, yes. Bots and dead accounts dilute your engagement rate, which can affect how platforms distribute your content and how partners judge your account.
Quality, almost every time. A smaller audience that engages, buys, and shares beats a large one that scrolls past. Reach now depends far more on content than on follower count.