What Is a Follower Now?

Photography, social media, and what a “follower” still means on TikTok, VERO and Glass.

A few weeks ago, I opened a TikTok account from scratch for a test.

I did not expect much from it. Photography is not an obvious fit for a platform built around short videos, and nobody there knew my work. I began with simple posts: one photograph, a few words, sometimes a question.

After 56 posts, the account had reached 348 followers and received more than 2,200 likes.

These are not remarkable numbers by TikTok standards. What surprised me was how quickly they appeared. Most posts were shown to people who had never seen my work before. The account did not need a history. Each post could circulate on its own.

My first photograph on VERO dates from August 22, 2022.

I joined at a time when criticism of Instagram was growing among photographers. The chronological feed had largely disappeared, and following someone no longer meant that their work would actually appear in front of you.

I recognised that frustration. VERO seemed closer to what I still expected from a social network: choosing whose work I wanted to see, then seeing it.

I was active for nearly two years, then stopped posting between May 2024 and September 2025. When I returned, many of the names were still familiar, but the platform felt quieter.

Today I have around 1,140 followers there. Most photographs receive between 120 and 160 likes, sometimes fewer, especially videos.

More important than the numbers are the names. Over time, I have come to recognise many of them. Some people have been commenting on my work for a long time. I know what they photograph, how often they post, and sometimes I notice when their work begins to move in another direction.

VERO still works as a chronological feed. When I follow someone, I can normally expect to see what they publish. Glass works in much the same way, though its discovery page lets me browse by category rather than just follow the timeline.

This is close to what photographers often say they want from a social network.

And yet both platforms feel quieter now.

Following someone used to carry a simple expectation: I had chosen to see more of their work.

That included the strong photographs, but also the less immediate ones. I could see repetitions, changes of direction and ideas that developed slowly. The meaning of one photograph sometimes depended on having seen the earlier ones.

The larger platforms work differently.

I can follow someone and still not see what they publish next. At the same time, photographs from people I have never encountered appear constantly in front of me.

This is almost certainly why a new TikTok account can grow so much faster than a new account on VERO or Glass.

That reach is real. What it represents is less clear to me. A person may stop for one photograph, press follow, and never see another.

The number remains visible on the profile. It still gives the impression of an audience waiting for the next post. In practice, the platform keeps deciding which of those people will actually see it.

A follower is no longer necessarily someone I can reach.

On VERO, the change has been gradual.

There was no single moment when everyone left. Some people began posting less often. A few familiar names stopped appearing. Comments became concentrated among a smaller group. The feed still moved, but not quite as it had before.

On Instagram or TikTok, that kind of absence is easy to miss. Another photograph appears immediately. Another account takes the place. The flow continues, and there is no empty space to notice.

VERO does not hide that in the same way.

When someone stops posting, nobody automatically replaces them in my feed. The silence remains visible.

That may be one reason a chronological network can feel as though it is declining faster than an algorithmic one. The decline may be real, but it is also exposed. The platform does not keep producing the impression that everyone is still there.

A network built around existing relationships can be hard to enter. On VERO or Glass, a newcomer may arrive in a place where many photographers have known one another for years. It takes time to become part of that conversation.

TikTok does not ask for that time. It tests the post first. Whether people remember the account comes later.

I still do not know what the 348 followers on TikTok will mean for the next photograph.

On VERO, some of the same names have been there since 2022.

Lately, I also notice the ones that are no longer there.

I still don't know if a network built this way can last, or if it will simply grow quieter until only the names remain.

For now, I stay. I won't know for a while what that was worth.

The photographs are gathered here:
Selected Photography