On twitter, It takes it seems something in the district of a year to get me to follow someone and occasionally that happens only when they point-blank ask me to or need me to DM them. I also sometimes get into fights or say something upsetting and then, lo and behold, I’m not being followed by someone I followed because… I’m not sure. I have a very small list of follows. A very small list of people I understand are okay with me talking to as if we can converse in semi-public.
When I find I’m not following someone I thought I was following, my natural assumption is that that person soft-blocked me and now wants nothing to do with me. I literally sit there fretting at the idea of pressing the ‘follow’ button again, seeing them see that notification, then doing the soft-block dance all over. This feeling is persistent.
Sometimes I’ll fat-finger a follow on a retweet or when browsing someone’s timeline. In those moments I have a tiny panic and try to correct it, because hey, they didn’t ask me to. Hey, this isn’t a space I belong in.
What I guess I’m saying is if I unfollow you or the like please don’t read anything into it.
I’m just used to my presence being bad.