2mo ago

What is this? A trend?

On mastodon, I'm starting to be followed by accounts I have no relationship with at all (a famous guy I doubt would ever follow me, a supposed magazine about a subject I never talked about and with a name not really related to the subject of their posts...).

Is this a trend? Is it a strategy to get people to follow them back so they have more followers? Is this the fediverse version of spam?

11 comments

I think it’s a strategy to get you to follow them back. I’ve had quite a few odd accounts request to follow me that I rejected. Usually accounts that were very specific and has zero relevance to my life or interests.
- That's my feeling as well, but... really? Randal Schwartz is hoping for me to follow him back?! The guy is a legend, I'm no one (literally - Ninguém means "no one" in portuguese).
  As @floo@retrolemmy.com said, I can't see a way for it to be nefarious except if it is some new kind of spam. But Randal wouldn't exactly fit in "new people joining the platform without really understanding exactly how following people and following hashtags on mastodon is different than how it worked on Twitter or Instagram."
  Bah! I'll just leave them there until they get tired of my boring conversations. 😁
  
  Are you sure it’s not a fake scam account impersonating him?
  If not he’s probably using some growth hacking tool to follow a bunch of people at once to boost his numbers.
I think it’s a symptom of new people joining the platform without really understanding exactly how following people and following hashtags on mastodon is different than how it worked on Twitter or Instagram. I wouldn’t immediately suspect anything nefarious.
It happens sometimes. Depending on the details, you can report them as spam, just remove the follow, or ignore it.
In some cases it could also be people that genuinely want to follow you. People often talk about one topic but still care about other stuff.
- @underscores
  In some cases it could also be people that genuinely want to follow you. People often talk about one topic but still care about other stuff.
  Many people fall into that category. I follow a lot of interesting accounts that have nothing to do with what I talk about on my channel. Sometimes you follow people because they know more about a subject than you do, or are just interesting.

11 comments