I understand the purpose of loves and favorites, but scratch does not need follows.
If a scratcher really likes another scratcher, they can just simply bookmark them.
By having followers in Scratch, it encourages annoying F4F
Scratch is for fun and coding, not for fame and popularity (Continue reading if you wish, that was the main argument)

As PaperMarioFan2022 said
“The whole following system is not based on a popular status or becoming famous (which to be fair, was never the point of following someone), but the point of the system was to make friends (that is no longer a thing anymore, for the naming of the title itself) and now it's purpose is supposed to give users a option to tag (or tab users) who they want to follow to see what they do.”

I will especially highlight the text “The point of the system was to make friends”. . He also mentioned that it is no longer true. Such as a few days ago I saw a man following people without thinking (I heard there was this challenge going on, but he wasn't doing it for the challenge). And why was this man doing it? For fame!
I have 160+ followers, a few of which are because of friends, acquaintances, and just simply like my projects, but most of them are there hoping I'd follow them back.

Cons (from the discussion)
You won't get notifications
Trench Warfare
If this was removed like-for-like would become much more popular

BringUpYourPost said “Nobody should be aware of how many follows they have”, and many of you were asking why? Only BringUpYourPost knows the reason, but I can try to answer why I think she said so. It is because when we know how many follows, we want more. And we all know what that causes. Greed.

Following is for keeping tabs on a Scratcher that you may like. For example, I follow Za-Chary because I think he has good taste, or his projects are good so I can find when he shares them. Following helps people find new projects that they may like based on interests, and be notified when someone you like shares a new project you may like.

Not to mention, there will be a revolution if this happened.

100blacktak wrote:

(#1)
By having followers in Scratch, it encourages annoying F4F

nothing is wrong with f4f as it doesn't affect you in any way

scratch team has even rejected banning it

if this was removed i imagine like-for-like would become much more popular

No.

this is the worst idea ever

I can assure you; We do not need SW2.

starlightsparker wrote:

I can assure you; We do not need SW2.

What does that mean?

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

What does that mean?

SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

starlightsparker wrote:

(#8)
SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

scratch war one was 2.0 –> 3.0

WindowsAdmin wrote:

(#4)
No.

56-s wrote:

(#5)
this is the worst idea ever

that doesn't really provide helpful information ….

starlightsparker wrote:

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

What does that mean?

SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

you mean SW3, SW1 was studio update

100blacktak wrote:

If a scratcher really likes another scratcher, they can just simply bookmark them.

just to remind you that follows are like notifications; if a user you’re following uploads a project, or loves a specific project, it will show up on scratch’s home page. bookmarks do not in any way do this. follows aren’t a way of showing enjoyment in the user necessarily

100blacktak wrote:

By having followers in Scratch, it encourages annoying F4F

i don’t think any psychic in the history of our universe could have predicted f4f coming to the scratch website. the ability to follow users goes as far back before f4f was popularized. while understandably f4f can be sometimes a little irritating to the eyes, it’s not too hard to also report comments that request f4f despite your profile explicitly saying you don’t allow it.

100blacktak wrote:

Scratch is for fun and coding, not for fame and popularity

you are right about scratch being fun for coding and…fun. the follow system was never intended to be used for popularity however, the thought of following being used for fame is almost guaranteed to be because scratch shows the exact amount of followers a user has.

starlightsparker wrote:

SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

you mean SW3, SW1 was studio update

you both are wrong. there was no war. neither world leaders of either side called on wars. the scratch team side stayed completely neutral and avoided all engagement in world war

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

starlightsparker wrote:

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

What does that mean?

SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

you mean SW3, SW1 was studio update

SW1 was 2.0 to 3.0, SW2 was studio update, SW3 was color, SW4 was ai.


I support because the more followers you have the more followers you want. Popular scratchers have overly encourage follow grinding. But followers in their current form are not effective in anyway. They signify status and skill where it doesn't exist. We should have a non public follower count.

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

Following is for keeping tabs on a Scratcher that you may like. For example, I follow Za-Chary because I think he has good taste, or his projects are good so I can find when he shares them. Following helps people find new projects that they may like based on interests, and be notified when someone you like shares a new project you may like.

This is a great explanation of why we have follows. Even if we get rid of follows and use a different system, it would serve the same function.

I'm happy to keep this open for more discussion, but please report to be closed if the conversation becomes unconstructive.

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

starlightsparker wrote:

ThisIsTemp1 wrote:

What does that mean?

SW1 (Scratch War 1); Color accessibility changes

you mean SW3, SW1 was studio update

Actually, here's the timeline
Scratch War 1: 2013 when Scratch 2.0 was released. Many people found the editor confusing and the sound editor broken.
Scratch War 2: 2017 when browser extension policies were enforced.
Scratch War 3: 2019 when 3.0 was released.
Scratch War 4: 2021 when studio updates were released.
Scratch War 5: 2023 purple update.
Scratch War 6: 2024 AI image generation.

We don't need Scratch War 7…

780000th topic on forums!!! lets celebrate

There is a reason to why following users exists as a interactive button and a seperate follower section. The whole following system is not based on a popular status or becoming famous (which to be fair, was never the point of following someone), but the point of the system was to make friends (that is no longer a thing anymore, for the naming of the title itself) and now it's purpose is supposed to give users a option to tag (or tab users) who they want to follow to see what they do.

In my honest and foward opinion, this should be treated with a grain of salt. Following a user on Scratch can have it's ups and down, sure, but in reality, not everything will be perfect to others. By removing the ability to follow a Scratcher, you are aware of what complaints and the controversies that will be discussed among people on the internet.

Again, I am not against your suggestion, but I don't think that it is a good idea to get rid of good and simple user-friendly features for Scratch's new coder audience.

Here comes the Scratch Civil War! 2024-idk
fr tho
Even though this suggestion sounds good on paper
this will end in trench warfare

I can't even imagine how Scratch would be without followers.

gdfsgdfsgdfg wrote:

Here comes the Scratch Civil War! 2024-idk
fr tho
Even though this suggestion sounds good on paper
this will end in trench warfare

Trench Warfare?! I don't live in France nor Belgium

100blacktak wrote:

Trench Warfare?! I don't live in France nor Belgium

I mean that scratch will get lots of hate

No. Do you know how much chaos this would cause?