Instagram star Megan Jayne Crabbe shared her response to a fan who unfollowed her on Instagram for the simple reason that all she does is to endorse brands and share success stories.
“A little while ago I opened a DM that said “I’m unfollowing you” (I’ve never understood when people feel the need to announce their departure but I clicked on it anyway).” Crabbe wrote on Instagram.
“It seems like all you do now is go to events, work with brands and make big announcements. You used to be so relatable and I really liked you, but not anymore”.
“My first reaction was to believe this person, feel incredibly guilty and apologize for coming across as “doing too well”. I sat with it for a while, and then changed my mind. I ended up replying with this:”
“Hi, I’m not sure if you meant this to be hurtful, but it was. It seems like you only “liked me” when I made you feel better about yourself. When I was a tool you could get something from, rather than a whole person with goals and dreams of my own. Now that I’m building something more for myself, and I’m proud of the work I’m doing, you no longer support me. Which means you never actually liked ME in the first place, you liked what you could get from me. All the best finding more relatable people to follow.”
“When I like someone, I want to see them win. And I want them to shout about it. I don’t want them to make their achievements smaller, or make their insecurities bigger so that they stay relatable to me. Disliking women who are proud when they win is patriarchal conditioning to see each other as competition. And another way we’re taught to stay small. Not here sis, we cheer for each other in this house.”
Oh, and you really never need to announce when you’re unfollowing someone, you can just leave.
Crabbe and her body-empowerment messages have been featured around the world on the Today show and in People, Teen Vogue, HelloGiggles, Cosmopolitan, Bustle, Redbook, Refinery29, Buzzfeed, and more. She lives in the UK.