Do followers on dev.to actually mean anything?

#discuss #talk #conversation #thoughts

I’m a bit puzzled and curious about the dynamics of follower counts on dev.to. I currently have 370 followers here, but my posts often barely break 30 views. So, I’m wondering—what’s the point of having so many followers if they’re not engaging with the content?

It makes me question whether followers on dev.to hold the same weight as they do on other platforms like Instagram or YouTube. Is there a different kind of engagement here, or is it just that the follower count doesn’t always translate to views?

And, by the way, since you’re reading this, I’m curious—what’s your follower count on dev.to?

Write below in the comments, I might have more than you... 😂

Top comments (8)

Justin Young • Aug 12

I'm at 2,358, and I see little evidence that this number means anything.

Travis Ramos • Aug 12

Hey Akhil, I have over 5000 followers on the platform, and my most recent post although I only posted a few hours ago has less than 25 views which doesn't make too much sense.

I guess we'll see how the post does in the coming days, but I don't think the follower count really means much on this platform.

Akhil Sharma • Aug 13

Algorithms and content visibility can be tricky to figure out.

Oscar • Aug 13

A lot of them are bots. Or they could just be people that followed you because they liked a comment/post that you made, but whatever recommendation algorithm Dev.to is using isn't pushing your content to them.

Akhil Sharma • Aug 16

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too!

dev_neil_a • Oct 29

I'm on almost 3,500 followers with very little engadgement. I am convinced that the majority of them are bot accounts at this point.

I personnaly don't think the follower count holds any weight here like subs do on YouTube or other platforms.

logarithmicspirals • Nov 30 • Edited

I have almost 1500 followers on this site. However, I very rarely get any engagement. The only times I've seen meaningful view counts is when I've posted submissions for DEV challenges. Perhaps my content is too advanced or too niche for most people on here given we'll see articles like "Top 5 Git Commits Every Developer Should Know" posted every other week with 20+ reactions 😐.