Verification results 5 months after reducing follows from 749 to 23 in January and stopping reciprocal likes (courtesy likes)

These are the results of a re-verification two months after writing the article above.

This is LaLaLa, currently in the midst of trial and error.

It has been a few months since I stopped "courtesy likes" in January. In that article, I looked back at "what only the numbers told me honestly," mainly from the perspective of like rates and the weight of comments.
This time, I would like to take a step further and record "how the overall note numbers changed after narrowing down my follows," along with four months of data.

What the four months of numbers taught me

What I was looking at was not the "volume of views" but the "density of reactions."
To that end, I calculated the "total views," "number of comments," "number of likes," and "like rate relative to views" for each of the four periods.

• 01/16 - 02/15
  Total views: 23,464
  Comments: 188
  Likes: 1,490
  Like rate: 6.35%

• 02/16 - 03/15
  Total views: 17,901
  Comments: 105
  Likes: 1,594
  Like rate: 8.90%

• 03/16 - 04/15
  Total views: 27,359
  Comments: 133
  Likes: 2,131
  Like rate: 7.79%

• 04/16 - 05/15
  Total views: 35,000
  Comments: 162
  Likes: 2,900
  Like rate: 8.29%

Looking only at the numbers, you can see that views dropped once in the middle of February and then made a V-shaped recovery.
However, when looking closely at the content of that "drop," there was the fact that "the like rate had actually jumped from 6.35% to 8.90%."

What happened after I narrowed my follows down to 23

In mid-January, I took the plunge and organized my follows down to 23 all at once.
It was a decision to ensure that the posts flowing into my timeline were only from "people I truly want to follow."

In the period immediately following that (02/16 - 03/15), total views visibly decreased.
Honestly, while I thought, "Of course they would decrease," I was also feeling nervous somewhere inside.

But during that same period, the "like rate" had surged from 6.35% to 8.90%.
I take this to mean that while the "views that were reaching people widely but shallowly" decreased, the density of "people who actually read" increased all at once.

Before organizing my follows, the "number of likes" was a lump sum of:
- Numbers warmed up by reciprocal courtesy
- Reactions made out of inertia on the timeline

After narrowing my follows down to 23, I have a clear sense that the proportion of:
- People who actually come to read
- People who react to the content itself
has clearly increased.

How did the numbers grow after that?

After experiencing a small valley in February where "views decreased but the like rate increased," the numbers grew slowly but strongly through March and April.

• The number of views was
  23,464 → 17,901 → 27,359 → 35,000

• The number of likes was
  1,490 → 1,594 → 2,131 → 2,900

The figure of 2,900 likes in April is about double what it was around January.
And now, I have 807 followers and am following 48 people.
What I am personally happy about is that I didn't 'regain numbers by increasing my following,' but rather 'kept my following limited while readers increased based on the quality of my work.'
(The increase in following consists of 14 members of a collaborative magazine and people who followed me after commenting on my articles)

As for the number of comments, it hasn't grown explosively.
Even so,
・Number of comments: 188 → 105 → 133 → 162
It is quietly increasing, even with some fluctuations.

As I wrote in my previous article, I reply to every comment, so the number of comments from actual readers is half that.
Even so, I feel the weight of each individual comment more than the numbers suggest.

Moving toward an operation that attracts through 'work' rather than 'volume of interaction'

After summarizing the data, there are things I was able to confirm once again.

• Even after stopping 'obligatory likes,' the like rate is not just stable, it has actually increased

• By narrowing my following down to 23 people once, views temporarily decreased, but the way they grew afterward clearly changed

• The number of likes and views continues to update without relying on the number of comments

I feel these are signs that an operation that grows numbers through the 'quality of work' rather than creating numbers through the 'volume of interaction' has begun to slowly take root.

Of course, I am not denying interaction.
Even now, I go to read the articles of those who comment on mine, and I leave comments when my heart is moved.
It's just that the result of letting go of 'reactions as an obligation' and leaving only 'actions born of curiosity' is what is appearing in the current numbers.

Where will I grow from here?

So, how will I utilize this favorable wave from here on out?

This is the direction I am currently thinking about.

• Keep the like rate in the 8-9% range as the 'standard benchmark'

• While increasing the number of works themselves, increase the number of articles that convey 'LaLaLa-ness' at a glance

• Slowly increase 'deeply engaged readers' through collaborative magazines and external traffic sources

What I want to value as an operator is not 'chasing numbers,' but 'writing things that make the numbers follow.'
As a way to verify that, I hope to continue both 'stories that move the heart' and 'honest operational records' while periodically looking back at the data.

To those who read my previous article.
Two more months have passed since then, and the numbers have changed like this.
I will write the next 'fixed-point observation' once some more time has passed.

I would be happy if you could continue to watch over me.