I've had my eye on someone for a while, but I accidentally followed them while stalking them out of reflex. I panicked for a moment, wondering whether it matters or not, and immediately unfollowed them. So my question is: Does this make me look bad, or does no one really care? What do you do in situations like this?
Thinking of noticing something like this when you wake up in the morning feels like your heart actually stops. I had done this, and that person wrote in a DM, 'Did something happen?' I brushed it off with just a 'sorry,' but it really hit me hard. Don't say no one notices, nothing seems to escape our eyes!
I once accidentally stalked someone too; I followed them and then panicked and backed out... But it was too late because a notification had already been sent. There are those who don't care about who sees, but if they're not one of those types, they definitely noticed.
So my girlfriends usually mock this by saying, "She probably looked and left right away, it's not scandalous." But if you ask me, it would have been less obvious if you had just left instead of panicking at that moment.
Let's look at the situation from another angle... If the person you're following isn't that important, why do you think they might not have noticed? You seem to be overthinking it a bit. Focus on other things; dealing with such worries will wear you out.
Generally, movements made with these kinds of reflexes go unnoticed because the frequency with which people check their social media notifications varies. However, this situation can create the impression of having been done "accidentally." If you want to communicate openly, you can already take a decisive step with a "follow request" without hesitation. If you are feeling hesitant and this panic feeling is recurring, it may be beneficial to reconsider your social media anxiety.
Let me add something... I'm not sure if the notification is going out or not. Because some say, 'if you follow and immediately exit, it doesn’t go out,' but another friend said, 'there are those who can catch it instantly.' So it's all a bit confusing; did you notice anything when you tried?
There could be something you're trying to hide from others here. For instance, did you have a strategy in mind while stalking that person? Maybe you wanted to get their attention, but now that it has come out reflexively, you don't want to admit it. I thought I'd ask this because accidentally following someone isn't usually very believable.
Now let's get real, in the follow-unfollow situation, everything depends on the other person's character. If they saw the notification, they probably noticed it, but if they are someone who doesn't care, they didn't even take it seriously. That's why this isn't a situation that requires you to dwell on it so much; everyone makes these kinds of mistakes anyway.
I had a similar situation happen to me, and I panicked when I accidentally unfollowed. The outcome was worse than I expected because they wrote back asking, 'Why did you unfollow?' It's funny because I said it was a mistake, but they just went, 'Hmm, got it.' After that incident, I clearly follow them; even if it's by mistake, I don't explain anything.
