[STEEMIT CULTURE] TO FOLLOW OR NOT TO FOLLOW: THAT'S THE $15K QUESTION!

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"I have 1.5M followers in Instagram".

"I have 850,000 followers in Facebook".

"I am followed by 1M Twitter members!".

How awesome is it that we have so many followers! And in return we follow them as well or someone else.  SteemIt has a FOLLOW button that we can all click if we want to follow someone. How important is this for the individual user and for the community as a whole?

The Benefits of Followers

1. You get to have "fans" for your postings. Although it's not an assurance that they will upvote your posts, you have a "captured" group of people who will be able to see your postings.  A much better scenario than having your post pushed down 30 posts in just 30 seconds after you submitted it.
2. Your "market value" increases. Let's be honest. People who declare they have millions of followers on social media and can prove it, of course, get attention from the whales and other lesser gods. So STAHP whining if your post does not get 15K SD in 24 hours. You got to build your brand first, make friends, get followers, build your market value. Get FOLLOWERS!
3. You get to be influential. Your opinion counts. Your upvote counts. People will rely on you and depend on you. In other words, you get to build your integrity. People TRUST you.  You become a "resource" person. The "GO-TO" guy.  The Expert.  Isn't that exciting?
4. It boosts your self-confidence. The feeling that you have something to contribute to the community is what will make you to continue doing your good deeds.
5. An inspiration to others.  You can always encourage those who are less follower-gifted. Provide tips, mentoring those "little" people to achieve what you have now.

The Benefits of Following (not Stalking!)

1. You get a chance to get followed back. If you want people to follow you and you are in no position to impose it to anyone, its best to do the following first.
2. You learn from people whom you believe can share their wisdom and knowledge with you. And you get easy access to their advise in your feeds.
3. You get to upvote those whom you want to support without so much fuzz.  As soon as the users you follow submits a post, you get to see it in your Feeds. You don't have to look for them somewhere else.
4. It shows that you are interested with what other people have to say.  This is not to say that when someone doesn't follow anyone, he is cold or something. There are reasons for that, I'm sure. But since we are in a community that promotes collaboration, following someone seems to make sense.
5. The association counts, especially if they follow you back. I am friends with @dan and @ned! Ok. I may be pushing it. Sorry. But you get what I mean.

And there could be more reasons why it's good to follow and get followed. Overall, we are in a community and we are collaborators for the good of STEEM and SteemIt. 

Let's use of the "FOLLOW" button. Otherwise, just bring it down.

#steemit #steemitculture #follow #culture