Are your followers really your readers?
No, they’re not. Social media followers are not in any way under your control. You can’t even be sure that your next social media post will even reach them!
Litopia Editorial, with Peter CoxUpdated
A follower is an arrangement between a reader and a platform, and you’re a guest in it. By contrast, a subscriber gives you their address.
If the social media channel suddenly changes its rules, a follower may never see your posts again. But a subscriber still gets your next letter.
What does a network decide for you?
On most large social media networks, the network decides how many of your followers see each post, which kinds of post are boosted and which kinds relegated, and whether any links you might include are even shown at all.
Meta’s own figures for Facebook show where that leads. In the US in the second quarter of 2025, 97.8% of Feed views were of posts with no link to anywhere outside Facebook (source). A post sending readers to buy your book is exactly the kind that travels least.
Networks also change the rules without asking. In May 2025, Medium stopped letting writers see or export the email addresses of new subscribers gathered through its in-app “notify me by email” button (source). Writers who had built a following there found that part of it was no longer theirs to contact.
What does a big number actually measure?
Often, less than it seems. On TikTok and Instagram Reels a view is counted the moment a video starts to play, even if the viewer scrolls straight past, and YouTube Shorts has counted views the same way since March 2025 (source). Half a million views can mean half a million thumbs moving on.
However, a subscriber has done much more. They typed their address, confirmed it, and agreed to hear from you again. It may be a smaller number of people, but it’s a far more valuable one.
What counts as owning a reader?
Owning a reader requires three tests:
- You know who they are: a name and an email address, not an anonymous count.
- You can reach them directly: every letter reaches every subscriber, with no algorithm choosing.
- You can take them with you: you can download the whole list any day and move it to another service.
A mailing list held by a service that lets you export it passes all three. Followers on a social network fail all three, however much they like your work. The list you own covers how to choose a service that keeps the list yours.
Should you leave social media, then?
No. Use it to be found, and treat every post as an invitation to join your list.
Use social media to talk with people, enjoy it, and invite those who like your writing to subscribe. Some networks suit writers better than others: The Fediverse explains why its readers are worth meeting. For a wider look at social media, see the Author Platform® guide to social media for writers.