Ghost follower: meaning and how it works

A ghost follower is a follower who never likes, comments or watches anything you post.

They lower your engagement rate even though the follower count looks good.

How it works in practice

Ghost followers are common on older accounts and after giveaways. They dilute engagement but are not harmful beyond that.

Example

Example: after a giveaway ended, an account kept its follower count but engagement fell from 5% to 1.5%.