I Deleted My Followers

On By Suzanne@PictureRetirementIn On My Mind

Well, not all of them, but a lot! Performing blog maintenance is something I do annually. Tasks include checking links within popular posts to ensure they are still active and relevant, updating my About Me page, changing my introductory photo, deleting or resizing images, and purging blogs I follow that have not posted for over a year.

I was inspired by a post on Hugh’s Views and News to add another task to my list – purging followers. Yes, you heard me right, I purged followers. For many of us, followers are the lifeblood of our blogs. Seeing that number ticking up is motivating so, why would I intentionally delete them?

I did it for many reasons, mostly because I want a clean house that reflects ‘engaged’ followers who are here for the right reasons. I know I sound like a profile on a dating app, but who needs ‘fake’ anything when your intentions are to be real and promote connections. I strive for and sincerely hope that is what our blog conveys.

Doing the Deed

Hugh’s advice (which you can read here) is straightforward and when I followed it the results were astounding. I spent hours reviewing only half of my 500+ followers and deleted around 150 during that process. Specific criteria for deleting the blogs/individuals who followed my blog included 1) they linked back to images like the ones below indicating they are defunct, private, or never existed, 2) they had not posted anything for several years, 3) they pitched products and services, and 4) they had never engaged with me through my blog.

From the WP Dashboard I selected Users/Subscribers and this page popped up. There were a lot of unfamiliar names, (low-hanging fruit), so I started with those. After a quick review in most cases, and longer in others, I decided to keep or remove. The upside of this exercise is that I discovered a handful of interesting blogs I hadn’t noticed before and added them to my reading list.

A large number of blogs I clicked resulted in messages like these.

The process was disheartening, and a little ego-deflating, but I’m glad I did it. I may have deleted a few followers in error, but that is a risk I took to ‘clean house.’ Hopefully, they will find their way back.

Of course, the best way to avoid this daunting task is to check out new followers from the beginning. I have gotten pretty good at spotting spammers in my ‘pending moderation’ folder, and the legitimate commenters always receive a return visit from me to check out their blogs. Going forward, I will make checking out new followers a priority as well.

Let’s Discuss

Does your blog maintenance include deleting followers? Have you ever taken stock of who follows your blog? What are some ‘red flags’ that indicate ‘spammer’ to you?

Just So You Know

Malcolm and I will be away in July so not much happening here. We would kindly appreciate it if you would keep up with us on Instagram. We will be visiting some amazing destinations and hopefully, I will capture a few photos worth sharing. Be well my friends and have a spectacular July. I’ll be back in August with a full report.

57 thoughts on “I Deleted My Followers”

  1. I haven’t taken the time to do a mass cleaning, but I appreciate the reminder to do so. I have eliminated many when I see them pop up and check back to find what you did. My biggest problem right now is I’m running out of space for photos and can’t delete a post along with the photos with one click. I have to go back and find the photos and then delete them separately. Hope you have a great July!

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      1. Hi Dawn, I’m sure you are not alone. Lots of folks set up blogs and carry on for years without checking on the mechanics of things. I do the maintenance I mentioned because I think it keeps the look of my blog fresh and it reminds me that there is more to it than just writing. If I neglect things for too long (like I did with purging followers/subscribers) it becomes a chore. I think it’s best to spread things out over time and not get overwhelmed. If you need guidance, click on Hugh’s link and search his site for ‘blog maintenance.’ He has a lot of good tutorials.

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    2. Judy, I had gotten very lazy about checking every new follower/subscriber and all of a sudden, it was way out of hand. I always check new comments, and delete or report suspicious ones as spam. Those seem to be slowing down a bit.

      The photo thing is a constant problem for me too. Resizing takes a lot of time and I don’t always think about doing that before I load them into a post. For some reason, I upload a lot of photos that go unused and I have a lot of duplicates. Seems to me there should be a way to identify and delete those. If there is, I haven’t discovered it yet.

      Anyway, maintenance on the blog keeps me busy and out of trouble on rainy days – we have had a lot of those lately. Have a great week.

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  2. I do blog housekeeping twice a year, in December and in June. I tweak my About Me page and doublecheck that the blogs listed on my Blogroll are still around. Just did that this week. I’ve done what you did, deleting Followers here in WP, it’s fun but ultimately other spammy-types showed up to replace the ones I deleted. Still it was a kick to say “bye-bye” to them.

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    1. Suzanne, great advice! I try to check each new follower and delete the ones that aren’t appropriate but I sometimes miss some. It’s time for me to do a thorough housekeeper. Thanks for the reminder. Enjoy your July!

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    2. Ally, I did delight in saying ‘bye-bye’ to a few, but mostly it was an eye-opener regarding just how many followers/subscribers are not real or are not around anymore. I clean up my Blogroll annually, but I keep a few oldies around that I know will eventually find their way back to blogging.

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  3. Good for you, Suzanne. When I read your introduction, I figured Hugh was behind your blog maintenance! 🙂 I’m quite lazy when it comes to that. I always feel like I have more important things to do, but it would be nice to clean up house. I love getting rid of things and simplifying everything. Sometimes, I go through the list of blogs I follow and unsubscribe from them. Again, to make my life easier and less busy.
    Have a nice trip and we will meet (here) again, soon!

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  4. Hi Suzanne – I’m glad I made it through and didn’t end up on your cutting room floor! I check my blog on the broken links checker every so often (so many links from ex-bloggers in their comments etc that have to get deleted). I don’t have ‘followers’ as such and just have my subscribers on Mailchimp – I figure they’ll unsubscribe if they don’t want my emails. I have culled my ‘friends’ on FB a few times – so many who came from the early days of blogging who have disappeared. I try to keep my friends as actual friends as it seems more real that way.

    Enjoy your time away, I’m not on IG, so I’ll check in with you on your return as I’m sure there’ll be an interesting post with some of your pics included. x

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    1. Leanne, I have always been on WordPress, so I don’t understand the nuances of other blog platforms, but I assume you get fewer bogus followers?? I still have a FB account, mostly for stalking and commenting on friends posts. I have considered having more of a presence there, but unfortunately, the platform does not have comment moderation and once you let someone in, anything goes. People seem to be a little more polite on Instagram and are less likely to share controversial posts.

      No way you’ll ever end up on the cutting room floor!

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  5. I delete spammers as soon as I notice them, but I don’t often look through my followers. I love Hugh’s articles on this subject, and I do many of the things he recommends. but I should spend more time checking previous links.

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    1. Dan, I find Hugh’s blog maintenance advice to be very helpful. His suggestion to check followers/subscribers was not something I have thought of, but what a great idea. I was not prepared for the work involved, but I am glad I did it. Now, I have numbers that more accurately represent engagement on my blog, which is a satisfying reward. Have a great week.

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  7. I used to delete followers whose blogs had “expired” from time to time. But for the past six months, I’ve been getting a lot of new “followers” (about twenty to thirty a day) who aren’t even bloggers. They’re from countries like Nigeria, the Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, etc., with long and fake-looking emails.

    When I questioned WordPress’ help about it, I learned they are indeed spammers, but I could never get a straight answer about why these spammers wanted to follow my blog. From other readers, I’ve learned that they want access to my email address and the email address of the people who comment on my blog, but I don’t know if that’s true. They are finding my blog without even visiting my site, apparently through Word Press’ reader that uses “analgarthyms” (sp) to introduce it to readers who may be interested.

    It takes me a long time each day to delete them, one by one (which is the only way Word Press allows me to do it), and I’m probably just going to stop blogging at the end of this year as a result. That will be my ten-year anniversary, and I’m just tired of how hard Word Press is making it for me to continue. But I will miss blogging for sure….

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    1. Ann, twenty to thirty followers per day is extraordinary and clearly bots have gotten hooked into your account somehow. Keep chatting with WP. They must have a solution from their end. I’d hate to see you give up your site, but I understand how frustrating it is.

      I had constant chats with them for almost two months when trying to resolve my Admin. Page issues. It nearly drove me crazy and I also considered folding my tent. But, they finally came through and I haven’t had any problems lately. Fingers crossed.

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      1. Thanks, maybe I will continue to try to work with them, but it is just so frustrating when I’m asking about how to get rid of spam followers and their answers are along the lines of, “Engage with your subscribers and visit their blogs! Maybe you’ll like theirs as much as they like yours!” In other words, canned answers that had nothing to do with my actual issues. And then the human who finally answered me (after 2 weeks) was the one who told me they are actually referring people to my site….and he meant the spammers!

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  8. Hi Suzanne, I usually do blog maintenance at the end of December. I haven’t taken stock of who follows my blog. Most of the time I receive comments from bloggers I recognize. When I receive comment from a new-to-me blogger, it’s pending moderation so I review the comment, visit the blog and approve or delete the comment based on my review. My deletion criteria are similar to yours.

    I do delete links to my weekly Weekend Coffee Share blog link-up when the bloggers don’t engage with me through my blog or when they pitch products/ services. Link-up hosts normally want a high number of links. I want “engaged” bloggers who take time to read and comment on my blog and other blogs.

    I’m not on IG and will be away most of July so I’ll catch up with you in August. Have a wonderful July!

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    1. Hi Natalie, engagement with real readers was one of the reasons why I deleted half my followers. I know there are people who read and never comment, which is fine, but I don’t see the point of having an inflated number of ‘followers’ who never engage in any meaningful way. I’m sure I probably deleted a few folks who visit without notice, but my blog is about connections and communication, so it’s a small price to pay.

      My practice is the same as yours when vetting new comments. I have found some wonderful new blogs that way.

      Have a wonderful July!

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  9. Suzanne, thanks so much for linking to my post about unsubscribing fake followers and spambots from your blog.

    It’s refreshing to read that another blogger is housekeeping their blog. So many blogger believe it’s not important, and this can result in their readers being taken to fake websites or getting lots of 404-page not found messages when clicking on broken links. Links can also contain malware and infect somebodies device if clicked, so it’s important to do as much as we can to protect our readers and keep them safe.

    Enjoy your break from blogging in July.

    Best wishes,

    Hugh

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  10. Hmmmm…good advice. I admit I rarely look at this stuff. I don’t even know how many followers I have and if they are real. The last blog maintenance I did was to remove my blog’s email address from view to stop having my inbox flooded with 100s of nonsensical bot-generated emails per day. It worked, immediately.

    Enjoy your summer, Suzanne!

    Deb

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  11. Hi Suzanne, Interesting reading your thoughts on this topic. You are a thoughtful person and you likely gave a great deal of thought to these decisions. 💕As most things in life, I find many grey areas. I still get the occasional new following, likely because I have read their blog and commented, our paths have crossed on the web and/or instagram. I will get a new follower on instagram and we both may have a blog and find we have things in common and now communicate sometimes daily/weekly. We are inspired and learn from each other, like most relationships.

    I quickly check out a new follower on any forum and try to make sure nothing makes me feel uneasy. If so, I will delete.

    An aside on this topic: my husband and I read thoroughly at least twice your blogs on cruising, how to pack, and so on. You helped us on our recent cruise.

    Have a nice July, Suzanne! I look forward to reading and seeing your amazing photos!

    (By the way – I am in the grey area of blogging – still unsure where/when I will post an update – my past blogs are still read and occasionally I receive a comment and of course, I respond – many time sensitive writing projects at the moment)💕 Erica

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    1. Hi Erica, I am glad my cruising blogs have been helpful. I enjoy writing posts that share useful information. I think I need to do more of those.

      Speaking of writing, I would love to hear more about your ‘time sensitive writing projects’. As to the blog, I hope you will return to regular posting at some point. I do miss the back and forth sharing of our daily lives. Staying in touch via Instagram is nice, but it isn’t the same. Take care.

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  12. Too bad we can’t just use a vacuum cleaner to suck the bad followers out of our blogs, LOL! It’s a chore, Suzanne, but necessary. Because of spam, and reading Hugh’s post, I do this every day when I sit at my PC (easier for me). It is time consuming but doing so daily takes moments.

    Once these bots or scammers follow you, if you post and share, they will get their spambot going. Akismet by WP does a great job, but the Pom Pups spammers find their way in. Its not worth having follower numbers if they’re spammers.

    Someone mentioned taking their email address off their site. I use the address typed out — blahblah dot com.

    Great reminder that blog maintenance is necessary. Sounds like you have some great summer plans, enjoy!

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    1. Hi Terri, sounds like you are on top of things. I have always vetted new comments, but I have neglected doing the same for new followers. I guess it was an ego booster to see the numbers rise. But, when it is obvious that less than 1% are engaged, something is wrong. A vaccuum cleaner sounds perfect for the job.

      I did check after I read the comment about the email address and I don’t think I’m exposed. It’s sad that we have to think of all these things just to keep our beautiful little houses free from intruders.

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  14. Thanks for the tip! I never thought about purging subscribers 🤔 I just looked and I cleaned out about 60 followers that went to broken links or private pages 😲 Is there an easy way to check the links in my posts? I’ve never thought to do that…

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    1. Hi Sharon, I check links the old fashioned way – one at a time. I’m sure there must be a tool out there but I am not aware of anything specifically. This is a good question for Hugh, (follow link I referenced). He’s a good guy and loves to answer questions about WP. Dan Antion is another good source. Just click on his gravatar and it will take you to his blog. If you get a good answer, please pass it on. Otherwise, it’s a great chore for a rainy afternoon. You will be amazed at the number of subscribers/followers who aren’t legitimate, or are now defunct. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

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  15. Great advice Suzanne 🙂 I do try to keep on top of my blog housekeeping (I monitor spam daily and use a broken links checker monthly) but I hadn’t though to do this. Something for my to-do list when I have a quieter week – thank you.

    Btw, thanks for the link to your Instagram account – duly followed 🙂

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    1. Sarah, thanks for following on Instagram. I will do my best to keep it up while away. I’m taking my camera, but not my laptop, so the photos I post will be from my phone. I’ll share the camera photos in a few posts after we return.

      Please tell me more about the broken links checker. That sounds much easier than piece by piece.

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      1. The broken links checker is a plug-in. I read about it a while ago, also on one of Hugh’s posts. It really does speed things up – you run a check and it alerts you to links that aren’t working. The rest you have to do manually (checking if the link can be edited or if it needs to be completely removed) but at least you don’t have to check each and every one yourself! This article has a link to one: https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wordpress/how-to-find-fix-broken-links-in-wordpress#2-use-a-wordpress-plugin-to-check-for-broken-links But there are several available, I don’t think that’s the one I installed. Some run automatically but I prefer to run the report myself from time to time as it slows down the site while it’s running.

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  16. I was just doing some blog maintenance and it is definitely a chore. Mistakes will be made, as they say. I’ll definitely follow you on Instagram – you’re traveling to one of my favorite places!

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  18. I read Hugh’s post and filed the need to purge away in the “for later” section of my brain (which seems to get more and more stuffed lately). Now you’ve prompted me to move it to the “next time I have a moment” section. I’ve had a lot of suspicious new followers lately. I had thought they were relatively harmless attempts to get me to follow them (which I don’t) but now I’m not so sure.

    Have a wonderful time away. I look forward to seeing you back in the blogosphere when you return.

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    1. Hi Janis, you will need more than a ‘moment’, but it is a worthwhile task. I don’t fully understand all the harm that they can do, but I know they aren’t up to anything good, so why not get rid of them? My biggest fear is approving a comment from a bot and letting them into my system. They are getting really crafty and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real and what is AI.

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  19. Pinning your post and Hugh’s on how to do this and need to set aside an afternoon to give it a go. But I am afraid if I delete the followers who don’t lead to real people and real bloggers, I might not have a one left.

    Something I try to do but have failed at doing lately, is deleting pictures from my galleries in the ‘cloud’. I try to delete unneeded photos, deleting the photos taken in May for the past 3-4 years during May. Does that make sense?

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    1. Photos are another big bugaboo! Hugh has a tutorial on doing that, but it is also something I have put off. I resize a lot to create more room, but deleting is another story. Until WP can tell us how to delete photos without deleting them from older posts, I am hesitant to go scortched earth.

      Deleting my followers was kind of cathartic. I feel more in alignment now with actual readers – think quality over quantity and go for it! Have a great week.

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  20. Suzanne, great advice! I spent all afternoon yesterday going through my followers and went from over 1100 to 207! I was amazed at how many were blogs that didn’t exist any more or never got past creating the home page. I think I accidentally deleted a couple of my real blogging friends by mistake. Enjoy your July!

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  22. I think deleting followers is a great idea. I know I have a few with either deleted email addresses or I get a message saying their Inbox is full. I will begin with those, when I can find some time. Otherwise, I don’t do much reviewing and I should redo (or consider redoing) my About Me page. I just never know what to say about myself!!

    Just sent through a Follow on your Instagram page. Can’t wait to see your July fun.

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  23. Oh dear. I am horrible at blog housekeeping! I think the only thing I’ve ever done is update my template (once) and drop blogs I followed that were now “dead”. (again once).

    I did housekeeping on my phone contacts a couple of years ago, though. Going through and deleting contacts – many were age-old work contacts, some were “who is this” contacts! I guess it’s similar to deleting followers.

    I guess I need to add blog housekeeping to y to-do list.

    I’m not on Instagram (hacked there too many times), so I’ll look forward to your posts when you return. Safe travels!

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    1. Hi Pat, blog maintenance is definitely a rainy day activity. I still have more to do and will get to it eventually. I know of a lot of folks who were hacked on FB, but I haven’t met anyone who was hacked on Instagram. That’s unfortunate. Deleting phone contacts counts as tech maintenance, for sure! I have a bad habit of putting first names only into my phone and a year later I don’t remember who they are.

      Have a wonderful July.

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  25. Something to ponder. I never thought to check this. In fact, I really wasn’t aware of how many followers I had. Now that I see them, I’m curious who some of these people are! I’ve been using WP since 2017 and still don’t understand it. For example, I get emails from strangers wanting to collaborate. To me, that’s a spam red flag.

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