Understanding Follow-Back Schemes: When Building “Community” Goes Wrong

Here’s something you might have seen lately, especially on emerging social media networks:

Follow me and I’ll follow back! Let’s build our community! 🤝 #followback #communitybuilding

Sounds innocent enough, right? But there’s a darker side to organized follow-back schemes that’s worth understanding – both to protect yourself and to spot manipulation in action.

Here’s how these schemes typically work:

Accounts (often part of coordinated networks) aggressively promote follow-back culture
They frame non-participation as elitist or narcissistic, to guilt others into joining
Real people join in, hoping to build genuine connections
The networks gain legitimacy through authentic followers
Bad actors within the network can then spread misinformation to a wider audience

The genius of this approach is that it exploits normal human desires for connection and community. When you see someone post something like…

A post from Bluesky that reads:
Big accounts who don't follow back are just like the narcissists we left the other app to get away from. — If you read this whole post, you’ll understand why you should not search for this post or engage with this account.

… it’s designed to resonate with genuine frustrations about social media hierarchies.

But here’s the catch: These networks aren’t really about building community. They’re about creating distribution channels for disinformation and propaganda. Even if you later unfollow the most obvious bad actors, the network effects ensure some of their content will still reach you through shares and interactions.

Think of it like a pyramid scheme, but for attention and influence rather than money. The people at the top know exactly what they’re doing. The people at the bottom are just trying to make connections, unaware they’re being used to give legitimacy to coordinated manipulation campaigns.

What can you do?

Build your network organically around shared interests
Be skeptical of accounts pushing aggressive follow-back rhetoric
Remember: Real influence comes from authentic engagement, not inflated follower counts

The internet can be a great place to find your people. Just make sure you’re finding them for the right reasons.

Have you spotted or participated in any follow-back schemes? Share your experiences with us on Bluesky.