I lost a Goodreads follower. Even though I’ve never been quite sure what the relationship between Goodreads authors and their followers is supposed to be, I feel a little sad about this. Sure, I didn’t really know that person; but I still feel rejected. The disappearance of their tiny thumbnail image from my Author Dashboard leaves a little, square hole in my life.
As far as I can tell Goodreads followers see pretty much the same side of you as Goodreads friends do, except they are not necessarily people you know.
For the longest time, I had one follower. Then, one day, I noticed I had a dozen. From there my group slowly grew until I had 31 followers. How I got this many followers I don’t know, but I naturally chalked it up to my snowballing popularity. Who knows? Someday I might hit 40, and from there the sky’s the limit.
Yesterday I noticed my followers numbered only 30. Somebody made the conscious decision to stop following me, and like a jilted lover, a part of me longs to know why. Why did you leave me? What could I have done differently to keep your love? – or in this case, your passing interest.
I don’t think I did anything offensive. I did rate The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with four stars. Was that not enough stars? Too many? Now, I fear I’ll never know what drove my 31st follower away.
How did I end up in a love triangle triacontakaitrigon with Sir Arthur and 31 others? It’s his bedroom eyes, isn’t it?
Aside from the personal rejection, I’m left to contemplate what this contraction means for my long, but mostly secret career as a writer. Has my popularity peaked? Did 31 followers represent the Golden Age of my appeal? Will they all begin to trickle away now, leaving me clutching at withered laurels as I struggle to regain my renown? I can see it on my headstone:
When this is the height of your fame, they don’t even bother with your name, because who cares?
I suppose I’ll never know why I was kicked to the curb. I’m left to piece together speculative theories. The most plausible is that one of the 18-26 people who are following me by accident, ever since they clicked the button next to the button they intended to click, took the unlikely step of auditing the list of authors they are following. Finding no justification for my name on their list, they took immediate corrective action, this time taking care about who they unclicked.
Either that or one of the 6-12 people who followed me as a lark during a carefree, and possibly drunken, moment of web surfing, decided to begin taking their online decisions more seriously and eliminate all their irresponsible Internet relationships.
Either way, it was clearly a mistake. It has now been fixed. Follower 31 and I have gone our separate ways. It’s probably best for everyone involved, with the exception of me. What happens when the other 30 get word that there is a way out of this mess?
Scott Nagele 
Reblogged this on A Good Blog is Hard to Find and commented:
What does losing a “Goodreads follower” mean to you? -OM
Note: Comments disabled here. Please visit their blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much for the reblog, Opinionated Man. I knew something was up when I had comments.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not a problem man! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t even know we had followers. Or an author dashboard. The entire idea was eye opening. Now I have something else to watch – not sure whether to thank you or throw a sock, ha ha!
fun post, btw!
LikeLike
Yeah, if your Author Dashboard is anything like mine, it’s like watching paint dry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have a sneaking suspicion that it is! Lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
If I can find you I’ll follow you on Goodreads to make yup for losing one and you can follow me back, how’s that? 🙂
LikeLike
You won’t break my heart, will you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very witty! I’ll follow you, may not read every post…not enough time in a day to read all the blogs I follow. But I LOVE everyone of them! Hope you get to 40 and beyond!
LikeLike
Thanks much. I know just how you feel. If I read every post from every blog I follow, I’d never have time to write a post (and my kids would go hungry). I’ve begun following your blog as well.
LikeLike
Navigating Goodreads leads one through many mystery mazes. I seem to have peaked at 6 followers, have done four book giveaways, with one more pending, and received 4 book reviews from the 23 winners. Good, bad or indifferent, the reviews are nice to get, I only wish there were more of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve gotten 2 reviews from the 10 books I’ve given away – a far cry from the 60% Goodreads claims. But you live and learn, right?
LikeLiked by 1 person
2/10 for you, 4/23 for me. Maybe the 60% is the percentage that will not review and we are still lower than average. Thanks for the comments.
LikeLike
Either way, the Goodreads representations seem a little inflated.
LikeLike
I had to run away from Goodreads, LinkedIn and Facebook to have time to bathe – but I don’t think I ever became anybody’s groupie – oops, follower. If it helps at all, I’ve decided to follow you here. LOVE what I’ve read so far. (and if Opinionated Man reblogs with THAT title, who am I to quibble?)
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, yes, social media – the great hope and disappointment of bloggers and writers everywhere. They do tend to take up all your time and periodically make you feel dirty. I’m glad you were able to wash it all off. And thanks for following.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ditto, says she, washing-washing-washing. xx, mgh
LikeLiked by 1 person
PS. Pinned your headstone to my Blogs and Bloggers Board with a few words to encourage clicking to read. (I may turn out to be the only pinner who actually reads, however – they’re a pretty visual bunch.)
xx, mgh
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I can’t say I blame the pinners. I like looking at the pictures too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When you have a point, you have a point! xx, mgh
LikeLiked by 1 person