How to gain a following online

Recently I decided to join a few facebook groups that are dedicated to writing. After browsing through the groups I noticed that one of the most asked questions was how to get people to follow you/how to build a presence online. I'm not the best at building an audience, but I do want to share what I've learned so far. On Twitter I use hashtags. There are hashtags that are used during certain days of the week to promote you and your work. The picture above shows some of the hashtags that I've found work in getting noticed (yes, that is my awful handwriting). Instagram is kind of the same. You use hashtags (like writersofinstagram) to gain a following. I have also noticed that doing something called follow for follow helps on these sites. Some authors/bloggers do blog tours, but I have never done one of those before. Updating your blog more often also draws attention to your blog, just make sure that you're writing content that you're proud of. You don't want to draw people in with something that has nothing to do with you as a writer, do you? On facebook I have joined groups and tried doing follow for follow. Building relationships while in these groups really does help to build a following. Another thing that I have learned (this one is really important) is to be yourself and let your personality shine. No one wants to follow someone that they don't like, and you can't be liked if people can't relate to you. Write about things other than writing, tweet about things you like. It's very important to sell yourself as a writer in the beginning. I hope these tips helped you, and if you have any tips that you think could help me please feel free to leave them in the comments!