u/Exotic-Engineer7541

I keep seeing people debate whether buying TikTok followers, buy TikTok likes, or buy Instagram followers actually helps accounts grow long term or just destroys engagement.

What confuses me is that some pages clearly look botted but still somehow keep growing anyway.

A friend of mine bought Instagram likes for a few reels last year and said it temporarily helped social proof, but after a while his engagement ratio became completely weird. Another guy I know claims buying TikTok followers helped him land small brand deals because companies only looked at follower count.

At the same time, I’ve also seen creators say fake engagement completely ruined their reach and messed up the algorithm recommendations.

Honestly hard to tell what’s real because every YouTube video about this sounds sponsored by follower-selling websites.

Do platforms like TikTok and Instagram actually detect this stuff better now, or do people still get away with it pretty easily?

Curious about real experiences from people who actually tested it instead of generic “never do it” advice.

I bought a $350 microphone because literally every creator setup video called it “industry standard” and “the best mic under $500.”

Maybe my expectations got too high but I’m underwhelmed honestly.

Audio sounds cleaner than my old USB mic, sure, but not enough for normal viewers to care. Half my audience watches on phones anyway.

What nobody mentions in reviews:

You suddenly need an audio interface

Boom arm

XLR cables

Noise treatment

Gain setup

My “$350 mic purchase” quietly turned into almost $700 total.

Feels like creator gear reviews always ignore the hidden costs after the initial purchase.