How am I doing on various social media platforms?

This post is a quick round up on how I am doing on various social media platforms. It is not an attempt to boast or show off- my numbers aren’t really impressive or worth boasting about- this post is more of a self-introspection. And of course, a request to follow/support me on these platforms, if you're not already.

1. Youtube Channel- 4660+ Subscribers

My Youtube Channel is this- over time, I have managed to get about 4480 subscribers and growing slowly. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to give this channel the attention it deserves-though I am uploading few videos once a while, they are all simple ones- not professionally edited, not made with lots of planning and effort. This is partly because I am one man army and constrained by time I can spend on videos. Only few videos have got noteworthy views-others very few to negligible views- indicating that many of the videos aren’t really exciting to viewers. Hopefully in 2019 I can spare some more time for videos.

Check my channel here and subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/shrinidhihande

2. Zomato- Level 10

I am not really a hard core foodie. I am vegetarian and am often content with some simple food that fills the stomach. I don’t spend a lot of time n money eating out- may be once a month or so. However, being on Zomato for several years, I have now some 1400+ followers earned with close to 100 reviews and a million+ views (of reviews & photos combined). Having reached Level 10, I am 1 level short of Level 11, known as Connoisseur. But that is some 1300 points away and may take several months more. I have shifted to Udupi now and not many restaurants here listed on Zomato-can review only when I visit some big cities.

Follow me here: https://www.zomato.com/enidhi

Aug 2021 update: Zomato no longer showing points and level.

3 Quora- Half a million answer views

I did spend some time occasionally on Quora trying to answer questions on topics of my expertise. Once in a while Quora notified that my answered were viewed X thousand times this week or things like that. My answers so far have been viewed more than half a million times and have got some 600+ upvotes total. Not huge but not bad either.

However my appetite to spend more time on Quora is hampered by the following:

• There're hundreds of troll questions or meaningless questions added just to increase someone's question count. Like "which are the international airport in country 001" to Which are the international airports in country 200". No point trying to answer these questions- need to be able to sense such questions and stay away. Quora doesn't seem to do anything to curb this.
• Many people won’t bother researching a bit before adding new question- A similar question may already exist with answers but they just add new question.
• Everyone wants curated answers on the spot. If I leave a link to my blog post where I have given more detailed answer, hardly anyone would click it
• There’re many users who add a question with a hidden agenda of promoting their own products or services
• I asked a few questions but didn’t get any answers

Because of this I am spending less time on Quora now, compared to few months earlier. But it is a good platform to learn new things and share knowledge, so will explore a bit once a while. Check my profile here: https://www.quora.com/profile/Shrinidhi-Hande

4. Twitter- 4800 followers

Some 4800 followers. Never bought followers and don’t intend to. The slow and steady increase may take too long to reach appreciable numbers but don’t intend to chase the numbers. Also I find it effort intensive to put same content on multiple platforms, so my twitter updates have been a bit less compared to FB or Insta. Will try to rectify this in future.

Follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/enidhi

5. Google Local Guide- Level 8
I have just reached level 8 here, It wasn't too difficult to achieve with first 5000 points needed. Level 8 took almost an year. Next 2 levels are tough as lots of points are needed- almost 19 times more- 1 lakh points to reach Level 10. Level 10 is highest. Looks like some of my content were deleted- saw a dip in points once. Google review also doesn't let me leave a link to my blog post. But they do send some goodies to top contributors and invites to events. I have got a pair of socks- it is in transit- awaiting. I was offered 6 month extra storage but I didn't avail it as I will be charged if I fail to cancel and clean up excess space in time. Let me see what else reward I qualify for.

6 Instagram- 1500 followers

Instagram has made many people overnight celebrities and super rich. With right tactic and strategy, ethical or otherwise, some are able to master the art of grabbing millions of followers on Instagram and pocketing huge sums of money from brand promotions. But I am not good at this game. Only about 1500 followers- which looks like nothing as lots of people cross 10000+ within months and make good money tricking brands into paying them for promotions. At least recently some light is being thrown on this concern by socialblade/diet influencer and few such tools that expose users with fake followers. Latest reports also suggest almost two thirds of followers are fake in most countries and organic reach is also dropping fast as Instagram is tricking users and brands into paying for its promotional services.

Not having enough instagram followers is single most reason most brands/PRs won't even consider you for any opportunities. And some brands want people with 100K followers and on barter- the instagram influencer marketing is too insane and out of control devoid of any logic.

I don't have the appetite to do follow-follow back-unfollow game, or buy followers or do various other tricks to boost instagram account. I post a few pics occasionally but find it too effort intensive to add dozens of hashtags. I get tired before I cross 10-12 hashtags. Hopefully my account will grow organically to a decent size over time.

Follow me here: https://www.instagram.com/enidhi/ 

7. Facebook Page:

Again a dismal less than 900 followers-Mainly because I don’t have proper content strategy for my facebook page- it is largely limited to sharing my blog posts. Need to think something more creative for the years to come. Also I never bombarded my FB friends to like my page- all likes are voluntary- thankful to those who are liking my page. Further resisted all temptation to spend money and boost pages- another strategy to increase likes- but my experience tells me that boosting is not worth it.

https://www.facebook.com/enidhiblog

8. Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor says I have traveled 26% of the world. Have numerous ‘Badges’ there, which I feel are useless- they are created by tripadvisor to infuse a sense of fake importance or achievement- without any real benefits these badges that are available to everyone is not really impressive. Tripadvisor won’t let me leave a link to my blogpost in a review, so I don’t get much value from time and effort I put in. Neither Tripadvisor sends any gifts like Google Local Guides, nor their points and badges can be exchanged for anything meaningful in real life.

Once Tripadvisor was a good place to research about destinations I planned to visit- of late the search result is filled with packages they want to sell. Need extra effort to locate genuine reviews and useful info.

Tripadvisor regularly sends mails asking someone has a question and if I can answer- but they don't send the question in a mail-I guess they won't do that to trick more pageviews on their site. It is a pain to visit the site each time, read the question and see if I can help. So I am forced to ignore them. They also send mails stating I am in top x% in my city- but won't show that info to visitors- like if someone is searching about Chennai they should highlight these are the top 10 reviewers in Chennai.

Tripadvisor has also started follower- following count game now- I have only some 32 followers despite being there since 2011 and making 600+ contributions. Do check my profile and follow here.

My Tripadvisor profile is here: https://www.tripadvisor.in/Profile/ShrinidhiH

9. Tinder

Sorry ladies, I am not on Tinder.

10. Amazon Store
Have created an Amazon store, but yet to set it up elaborately and promote it well and register any sales. Do take a look here. https://www.amazon.in/shop/shrinidhihande

11. Booking.com Affiliate
Created a booking.com affiliate, but hardly earning anything from it. You can book using this link- Booking.com

I'm not on Tiktok, snapchat. Have an account on Pinterest but didn't pursue much.