How Followed works
What people actually use, straight from their own words — not affiliate listicles.
Where the data comes from
Followed listens to publicly available podcasts and YouTube videos and extracts the moments where a creator mentions a product — what they use, what they recommend, what they compare it to, and what they warn against. Every mention is tied to the exact episode it came from, and wherever possible, to the timestamp where it was said. You can always click through and hear it in the creator's own words.
Use ≠ recommend ≠ mention
Not all endorsements are equal, so we don't pretend they are. A creator who uses a product daily is a stronger signal than one who recommends it in passing, which is stronger than a casual mention. Product pages break these tiers out explicitly — the agreement bar at the top of every product page shows exactly how many creators fall into each.
Sponsors are always labeled
When a creator mentions a product during a paid promotion, we detect it and label it. Sponsored mentions never count toward a product's endorsement tally — they're shown separately, clearly marked, at the bottom of the page. If a product's numbers look good on Followed, it's because people genuinely use it, not because someone bought the placement.
Critics are never hidden
If creators push back on a product, those takes are on the page too — in the same list, with their own filter. A recommendation site that only shows positives is an ad. Showing the pushback is what makes the consensus meaningful when it exists.
What we don't do
We don't write reviews. We don't rank products by who pays us. We don't generate AI opinions and attribute them to no one. Every claim on Followed traces back to a named person saying a specific thing in a specific episode — and you can check.
Spotted something wrong?
Attribution errors happen — transcripts are messy. If you're a creator who's been misquoted, or a reader who caught a mistake, email hello@usefollowed.com and we'll fix it.