Congratulations. You did it.
You spent months, maybe even years, creating content, replying to comments, learning how the algorithm works, fighting shadow bans that may or may not exist, and posting at exactly 7:43 PM because someone on YouTube said that was when your audience was most active.
And now, you have 10,000 followers.
Your posts get likes. Your videos get views. People know your name. Random people stop you and say, “Hey, aren’t you that guy from TikTok?” Life is good. Then your landlord calls. Suddenly, your 10,000 followers become completely useless.
You cannot send your landlord a screenshot of your follower count and say, “As you can see, I am actually doing very well.” Your landlord does not care. Your landlord wants KES 500. And unfortunately, Instagram followers are not yet accepted as legal tender. This is one of the great mysteries of being a creator. You can have thousands of people watching you every day and still find yourself sending that very uncomfortable message:
“Hey bro, unaweza nitumia 500? Nitarudisha kesho.”