[Bug] Subscriptions: Blog followers have to "re-subscribe" after losing their follower status by no apparent reason

[davipontesblog]

A user reached out to WP.com support to report that over the course of the last 2 weeks they have followers (blog followers) reporting they aren't receiving email notifications for new blog posts anymore, thus losing their "follower status" on the site, which the site owner can verify in calypso. The site owner is also receiving email notifications from WP.com that their long-time followers are "now following their site", indicating the users are triggering a new "Follow" subscription:

This is concerning since the user has many loyal followers who subscribe via email and the site owner has no way of knowing who (if anyone) has been impacted by this, and thus would not be receiving emails anymore until they subscribe again.

@simison mentioned this may have been related to a recent 3rd party cookie mitigation change, and @josephscott stated that the list of followers is in the backend database, so we wouldn’t expect third-party cookies to be at play here.

Full discussion with more specific/detailed user information here: p1617715563025600-slack-CS108SDLZ

This is on an atomic site.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

I don't have steps to replicate, and I don't have a way to measure impact here.

[DanAntion]

I was informed this weekend by a couple users that they are once again being dropped. If it matters, I have over 10,000 followers.

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Sun, Sep 12, 2021 at 6:37 PM Gustavo Hilario @.***> wrote:

We have another report here #4269971-zen.

The user has more than 6000 followers and in this thread, some of them are complaining about this issue. The users are unfollowing the blog without taking any action.

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-917723226, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SETRAHLUAAYGCRCA6B3UBUTSNANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

[andres-blanco]

Thanks for your continued effort on reporting this issue.

We will keep working on this.

[DanAntion]

If you check the comment, you'll see that this person has been dropped from my followers list again. She has re-followed my blog about a dozen times (that's not an exaggeration). Some people are just leaving my blog behind as a result of continually being dropped. This problem is much worse than you think.

https://nofacilities.com/2021/09/22/sea-trials-1liner-weds/#comment-228252

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Mon, Sep 20, 2021 at 10:48 AM Abdul-Rahim Sulemana < @.***> wrote:

User experienced this https://hud.happychat.io/chat/29401817

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-922997530, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SEQRRZXME7FFVOBHLODUC5CU7ANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

[kwight]

Hi @DanAntion , thanks for pointing this one out again. You're right, they've been unsubscribed more like three dozen times – and sometimes unsubscribed after a previous unsubscribe (so, without having even resubscribed). We'll reach out to them via email to see if we can collect any specific actions they're taking that might get us on the right track.

[kwight]

A follower of nofacilities.com replied: "I have refollowed through all three - Reader, sidebar, and bottom right, and I go to the settings and click email, instantly." (they also noted it was never through the WP mobile app). @andres-blanco This seems to toss out our theory of blaming just the blue Follow widget button. 🤔

[carinapilar]

Another report on 29134279-hc

[DanAntion]

This came in today, from a blog I published on Monday but the person hadn't seen because she stopped getting notifications. She didn't get notifications for any of the four posts I published this week.

" marianallen http://marianallen.com

5 hours http://nofacilities.com/2021/10/04/new-englands-prize/#comment-229892Marian Allen, Author Lady http://marianallen.com

Happy pictures and video! And, speaking of happiness, tell your Happiness Engineers I’ve dropped off your radar again. Or do I mean you’ve dropped off mine? ANYWAY, I’m not getting notifications of your new posts. "

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 5:21 PM Carina Pilar @.***> wrote:

Another report on 29134279-hc

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-926926465, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SETR6ZQ5H6BDMRR3KK3UDTTWTANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

[kwight]

Internal report of subscriber popularity breakdown, to scope how big this issue could be: pa1C6h-147-p2

[formosattic]

User is still experiencing the issue after 5 months. 3957016-zd-woothemes, 31570130-hc

[khristiansnyder]

User in #4390169-zen wishes to be updated on the issue once resolved.

[metabreakr]

4404827-zen

[DanAntion]

This is depressing. The person who left this comment on my Facebook page is the first person I ever followed on WordPress and hr has been following me for over 10 years!

It has now been over seven months since I reported this problem!

Every day, I get your “Congratulations” messages about new followers, but the total barely goes up because I am losing others. Worse, I’m gaining new spam followers and losing long-time friends who really want to see my posts.

Dan

On Oct 28, 2021, at 4:26 PM, Jonny R. @.***> wrote:

 4404827-zen

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS or Android.

[DanAntion]

Just to let you guys know, I am still getting comments on a weekly basis from followers who have been dropped from my blog.

I reported this problem at the end of March 2021 - that's almost nine months ago! I've been dealing with this every month for almost nine months and I think that is more than long enough.

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 4:26 PM Jonny R. @.***> wrote:

4404827-zen

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-954176609, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SESHJTUACGJYX7C7ID3UJGWVVANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

[ahmadbaig1]

4665392-zen

[liviopv]

Hi @kwight since you were the last dev to interact with this issue, I'm pinging to check if there are any updates on the work being done on this issue. Since it's a hugely disruptive issue for the sites affected, it would be good from a support perspective to have an idea of when or if this will be fixed.

[kwight]

It's definitely something that should be fixed, but has proven really difficult to solve. It's been rotated through a couple of different devs/teams, and is due for another assignment, but I have no clear ETA on that.

[DanAntion]

I am the person who initially reported this issue. I don't want to dwell on the specifics, but this has been a problem for over nine months. I would think it would be time to focus on this a little more than what I've seen monitoring this thread.

I appreciate the work that has been done, but this is very frustrating, and it isn't just my blog. I know it's probably the last thing you want to do, but read the comments on this post (which was dedicated to this issue) https://nofacilities.com/2022/01/10/help-me-send-a-message-please/

[kwight]

I'm sorry this has dragged on so long @DanAntion 😕 But I can tell you that it's on leadership's list for handling, and is understood to be a frustrating, long-running problem.

[arinoch]

Adding one more (4668606-zd-woothemes) to the list, reported secondarily to another issue.

[autumnfjeld]

@DanAntion : @arthur791004 and I are going to be handling this issue going forward until it is resolved. Right now we are looking at how cookie expiration might be at fault. A cookie stored in your browser keeps you logged in so to speak, and this comment you left provides some clues that perhaps you were logged out due to cookie expiring at the time you were writing comments.

We'll be reporting here regularly to gain your confidence that this is a high priority issue for us, as we know it is for you and other website owners who have reported similar issues.

The fact that you've reported your experiences in such detail has been an enormous help - I know by the research I've done this week on all the prior efforts done to troubleshoot this issue. Thank you.

[DanAntion]

Thank you very much for this update!

Dan

On Jan 25, 2022, at 9:31 PM, Autumn @.***> wrote:

 @DanAntion : @arthur791004 and I are going to be handling this issue going forward until it is resolved. Right now we are looking at how cookie expiration might be at fault. A cookie stored in your browser keeps you logged in so to speak, and this comment you left provides some clues that perhaps you were logged out due to cookie expiring at the time you were writing comments.

We'll be reporting here regularly to gain your confidence that this is a high priority issue for us, as we know it is for you and other website owners who have reported similar issues.

The fact that you've reported your experiences in such detail has been an enormous help - I know by the research I've done this week on all the prior efforts done to troubleshoot this issue. Thank you.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS or Android. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.

[DanAntion]

I don't know if this is helpful, but this is the information on the last person to be dropped (that I know of)

lois http://loisajay1213.wordpress.com

4 hr. ago http://nofacilities.com/2022/02/03/wethersfield-houses/#comment-242008....on pets and prisoners..... http://loisajay1213.wordpress.com

haha! I just followed your blog. I cannot wait for you to give them ‘whatfor.’ Back away, Dan!

loisajay1213.wordpress.comx https://nofacilities.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?s=lois&comment_status=all&pagegen_timestamp=2022-02-04+00%3A47%3A36&_total=117808&_per_page=20&_page=1&_ajax_fetch_list_nonce=392902a8b4&action=-1&comment_type&paged=1&action2=-1# @.*** 68.1.54.242 https://nofacilities.wordpress.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php?s=68.1.54.242&mode=detail

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 9:31 PM Autumn @.***> wrote:

@DanAntion https://github.com/DanAntion : @arthur791004 https://github.com/arthur791004 and I are going to be handling this issue going forward until it is resolved. Right now we are looking at how cookie expiration might be at fault. A cookie stored in your browser keeps you logged in so to speak, and this comment you left https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-871370679 provides some clues that perhaps you were logged out due to cookie expiring at the time you were writing comments.

We'll be reporting here regularly to gain your confidence that this is a high priority issue for us, as we know it is for you and other website owners who have reported similar issues.

The fact that you've reported your experiences in such detail has been an enormous help - I know by the research I've done this week on all the prior efforts done to troubleshoot this issue. Thank you.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-1021804331, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SEWGKEAYIHQS4VOY2FTUX5MHZANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[arthur791004]

@DanAntion Based on autumnfjeld's comment, we drafted a potential fix for the scenario from comment you left

I had responded to three or four comments. When I tried to respond to the next comment, I was asked to login and offered the opportunity to “follow this blog.”

Now, this fix is deployed and we'll keep an eye on the logs to see if it mitigates the issue.

[DanAntion]

Thank you. I hope it helps. As recently as last week, I have had people reporting that they stopped getting notifications in email and had to resubscribe.

Dan

On Feb 7, 2022, at 6:28 AM, arthur791004 @.***> wrote:

 @DanAntion Based on autumnfjeld's comment, we drafted a potential fix for the scenario from comment you left

I had responded to three or four comments. When I tried to respond to the next comment, I was asked to login and offered the opportunity to “follow this blog.”

Now, this fix is deployed and we'll keep an eye on the logs to see if it mitigates the issue.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS or Android. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.

[jordesign]

Another case in #4759636 of a user who didn't receive notifications from a site - and when they checked the reader, they found the preference to receive emails to be off.

[rw-ye]

4759636-zd-woothemes user reported again:

I just got an email notification I had resubcribed. The issue is I am not unsubscribing but about every 3 weeks somehow this happens.

[rickmgithub]

Case here - 4795669-zd

They provided a screenshot of the repeat emails.

[autumnfjeld]

Hi @DanAntion . On Feb 7 we shipped a fix that we believe will address this dropped blog subscribers issue. We found that in some cases where a user is logged out, and then logs in while on your page, a call to unFollow was unintentionally called. We fixed that, and also add more logging so we can more easily track the series of events that occur around login and follow/unfollow actions.

We hope you'll have nothing further to report, but of course we would really appreciate knowing if you see another case of dropped followers or someone not receiving email notifications.

Thank you.

[DanAntion]

Thank you very much, Autumn.

I mentioned in a post to my readers that you guys thought you were onto something. I asked people who had been dropped to follow me again and to let me know if they end up being dropped. I know two people have followed again. One has reported twice that she is still getting notifications. I'm reluctant to declare victory, but it seems you may have fixed the issue.

Thanks for the attention you have given this. I will let you know if I hear of anyone being dropped.

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 1:48 AM Autumn @.***> wrote:

Hi @DanAntion https://github.com/DanAntion . On Feb 7 we shipped a fix that we believe will address this dropped blog subscribers issue. We found that in some cases where a user is logged out, and then logs in while on your page, a call to unFollow was unintentionally called. We fixed that, and also add more logging so we can more easily track the series of events that occur around login and follow/unfollow actions.

We hope you'll have nothing further to report, but of course we would really appreciate knowing if you see another case of dropped followers or someone not receiving email notifications.

Thank you.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-1047476745, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SEWEUDZ4SO6UA4A7QB3U4MWUXANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[jordesign]

As it has been over two weeks now with no reports of the issue returning - I'm going to mark this as closed. Please feel free to re-open if the need arises.

[DanAntion]

OK. I have not heard any complaints. I was waiting, only due to some people having said they would be taking a break. I do think the problem has been solved.

Thank you very much.

Dan

Daniel Antion @.***

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 7:16 PM jordesign @.***> wrote:

As it has been over two weeks now with no reports of the issue returning - I'm going to mark this as closed. Please feel free to re-open if the need arises.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Automattic/wp-calypso/issues/51787#issuecomment-1063513540, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ALZ4SEUWJ4TPWW6HILVM5PTU7E5PBANCNFSM42TG4IQA . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>

[sharonlaker19]

We've received another report in 6017481-zen. They shared the affected emails in the ticket as well.

[github-actions[bot]]

Support References

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