Sullivan
etruscan boar, ceramicDo you read people's profile info before you follow them? Please boost for a bigger sample size, because I'm really curious about this
hell yeah
hell no
Poll ended at .
Changeling@checkervest I do. I’m well passed a point in my life where I follow just to follow. I need to know I’ll have a chance for quality engagement before I follow.
Angela Glansbury 🚽@checkervest
I read the bio, check the first dozen toots on their profile, and find out what kind of crisps they like.
I read the bio, check the first dozen toots on their profile, and find out what kind of crisps they like.
Benjamin@floppyplopper @checkervest this is why I always space out my spiciest toots by a bakers dozen.
@BenjaminNelan @checkervest
losing manoeuvre sorry. This is a microblogging site, I only follow people if they're willing to throw a few punches.
losing manoeuvre sorry. This is a microblogging site, I only follow people if they're willing to throw a few punches.
@floppyplopper @checkervest drat! well at least you'll never find out what kind of crisps i like. i would never share that information online.
hacknorris@checkervest always...
it's B! Cavello 🐝@checkervest usually! Although I think I look more at their other posts than their profile links etc
Laux Myth (aka Martin)@checkervest I voted ‘yes’ but wanted to pull the emphasis off. I typically do read the profile and a few pages of postings but know I have skipped that sometimes. It is close to 100% when somebody follows me first. Some of it seems habit from the #BirdSite.
Mark A. ⏏️ {FalconMarkSix}@checkervest I do because I don't want to be following people who boost the same stuff. I want variety.
Also, I want to see what their original toots are like (if there are any). Some people do 10 boosts in 1 minute and their last actual toot was more than two weeks ago.
fc@checkervest More specifically, I'll glance at the bio but scan their posts and even dig into their replies. Over at the old place this kept me from following heinous people who maybe made one witty reply to something I posted. Haven't run into that here, so mostly I've been determining their interest and entertainment value for me. I'll almost always do this when someone follows me; I don't always follow back and don't expect follow-backs from everyone I follow.
🐚 Undo Influence 🐚I always check the bio and several toots. I suspect that the reverse isn't true for a lot of newer people who've tried to follow me since last Fall. Let's just say, "Just because I liked one of your comments doesn't mean we agree on most things, all right?" The Approve Follows option is a true blessing.
dressupgeekout@checkervest I genuinely cannot comprehend why someone would NOT refer to the bio before following.
It is the most permanent and most easily accessible aspect of someone's presence on fedi -- therefore, what they choose to put there has a lot of weight. Random toots are fleeting, but the bio is a statement. It takes a maximum 1 minute to read and it always has important info, no matter how trivial the bio itself may seem.
I keep the number of accounts I follow relatively low on purpose to keep things manageable -- getting a sense of who they are, when they joined, how frequently they post, etc. I suppose I spend more time than most actively curating this sort of thing, but it is necessary for me.
TL;DR I have the opportunity to make my experience on here as best as it can be, to find cool people rather than just lots of people -- therefore, I take it.
Patrick Duffy@checkervest C: Sometimes
quangobaud@checkervest
"Heck, no!"
Usually, I've seen lots of posts by people who have then followed me before I follow them back.
But, only a few times have complete unknowns followed me - I checked their profile and I went "No way, bruh!".
"Heck, no!"
Usually, I've seen lots of posts by people who have then followed me before I follow them back.
But, only a few times have complete unknowns followed me - I checked their profile and I went "No way, bruh!".
[UNC] Alpha Panda@checkervest oh my god how did this get so many votes so fast?!
Lily the otter@checkervest I need to know how gay someone is before I follow
Renewable Guydraulic Menergynot to nitpick on methodology here, but saying that one "reads [someone]'s profile" is open to interpretation because there's clicking on a person and viewing them locally on your own instance, and there is viewing on their home instance.
one of the things i love seeing is when a person posts "this rando interacted with me and when i looked at their profile they do absolutely nothing but boost my posts! what a weird creep! blocked!" which isn't the case, but: federation.
see also: "wow nobody reads my pinned toots!" because lol there's absolutely no assurance anyone can see your pinned toots.
beautiful software. keeps everyone on their toes.
LisPi@jackdaw_ruiz @checkervest Generally I've found it preferable to open a user's profile on their home instance, as there's no other way to be certain about message propagation.
Do NOT Fear|🇺🇸🇺🇦🐊🦉🌊💙@jackdaw_ruiz @checkervest The more we worry about such things, the more we pull the Fediverse in the direction of incumbent social media
chief maraging steel executive@jdrch @jackdaw_ruiz @checkervest idk, this involves a lot of interpolation, sure there's this phenomenon, but talking about it doesn't mean demanding that mister eugen rochko fix it tomorrow in the worst way possible either!
lori@jackdaw_ruiz @checkervest I was on fedi for a few months before I learned that when I click on a post, I may not be seeing every single reply to it from my home instance. I once saw what looked like an incredibly offensive reply but that's because it was in reply to a post inbetween the reply and the original post that was not loading for me. Now at least I know to look at it from the original instance to see if there's more there.
n3wjack@jackdaw_ruiz @checkervest yeah, that's a weird thing I've noticed now and then. The post counter says lots of posts, but there are none in the list. 🤔
Sensible Crone@checkervest and scroll their posts and replies a bit.
ShachihokoI usually check someone's profile and the most recent chunk of someone's feed before following. If there are very few "new" posts (as opposed to boosts) then I'm less likely to follow, but that's not a hard-and-fast rule.
ghostcatte@checkervest "hell sometimes, usually, maybe" 🙃
webhat@checkervest most of the people I follow are people I know from other place or were boosted by people who I know. I do browse people I follow back or people that might come into my mentions and have interesting additions to whatever I've posted
Alexander@checkervest Absolutely. I need to know if we have similar interests and if it’s a good person (I’m always afraid of homophobia) and so on and so on. A profile can say a lot about someone!
Gaurav Vaidya@checkervest I do not! I’ll glance at it to look for red flags, but generally if I find a post interesting I’ll follow the poster. I can always unfollow them later if I don’t like their future posts.
Doug 🌈🇨🇦 
@checkervest also if all their toots are boosts with nothing original I don't follow them. I'm already seeing those boosts elsewhere.
Giliell@checkervest Cursory glance at their toots. Don't want to follow transphobes.
@checkervest BTW, yes I do, unless know who they are beforehand
CoopDot 💻 𐑒𐑵𐑐𐑛𐑪𐑑@checkervest I check for signs that my follow request will be welcome. Some fedizens require you to ask politely first (limited reach is a feature for them)
Carla Martin@checkervest Not really I am far more interested to see what they post than their profile photograph. Many use something else anyway. Best wishes
hammancheez@checkervest I'm lazy as shit, I'll follow untill I see a post showing I've made a huge mistake then I will fix the glitch
Jonathan Clede@checkervest I take a quick glance… does that count as reading?
teefax@checkervest I miss "sure, sometimes"
The Febrile Muse@checkervest I also look at what they post/boost.
Brian Swetland@checkervest I also look at post history a bit. Unless I know someone from somewhere else already, I rarely follow anyone unless they've made a few interesting posts. A non-empty profile is useful too.
Rob Haines@checkervest Quick scan of the profile, but more influenced by their posts and seeing if they engage with the platform in a meaningful way.
Sören@checkervest I skim the bio, maybe go through some recent posts. If they boost a lot I might turn off boosts.
I generally don’t follow many more people because my timeline is already hard to keep up with 😱
Steven Capsuto - Translator@checkervest I read the profile and look at about 10 of their posts.
sam@checkervest after boosting a good post from a very, very, bad account i've learned my lesson about that, yeah
Architectus 🌆 
@checkervest I'm tiny baby, so I even check people that follow me
BakerPoliticalWatcher004@checkervest I go through their posts, too.
popey@checkervest Depends. If the name on the account and a post catches my eye, I might autofollow.
Flittermouse 🔞🐩 
@checkervest @stephaniepixie
I'm surprised to see that this is a question. I have a timeline (actually, 7 or 8 given the way lists work) and I populate those timelines with people who talk about subjects that interest me. I decide whether to follow somebody by seeing what they're interested in.
Why would I follow anybody blindly? I can look at the global and local feeds for an impression of what that would be like. Not entirely uninteresting, but not as good as a curated timeline.
I'm surprised to see that this is a question. I have a timeline (actually, 7 or 8 given the way lists work) and I populate those timelines with people who talk about subjects that interest me. I decide whether to follow somebody by seeing what they're interested in.
Why would I follow anybody blindly? I can look at the global and local feeds for an impression of what that would be like. Not entirely uninteresting, but not as good as a curated timeline.
Erisa@checkervest majority of the time the answer is yes. However there are a few exceptions where I just immediately accept
Laimis@checkervest no, read their timeline.
Allen Stenhaus@checkervest Not just profile into but as many recent posts as I can reasonably check out to get a feel for a person.
For example, if 90% of what someone posts is politics, even if it's stuff I agree with, I probably won't follow them, as I find too much political talk overwhelming. I'll still like them just fine & interact when appropriate, but I can't do politics on the daily. Maybe 1-2x a week at most.
Ajax B. Coriander@checkervest sometimes, it depends on how sus their icon is.
Lee Fife@checkervest I look at their posts and replies. Which means my eyes will glance over the profiles along the way but I don't pay much attention to that.
I'm much more interested in how they act than how they want to present themselves ...
I'm much more interested in how they act than how they want to present themselves ...
Edu 
@checkervest I read toot,not info. Toot are more reliable regarding the person's ideas
Melissa BearTrix 🏳️⚧️@checkervest oh yeah always, I just followed you, because of your first line about clouds ... Giggles
Hugz & xXx
rag. Gustavino BevilacquaA 0.10 yeah is not exactly a no…
Shannon Clark@checkervest @timbray profile and recent posts and replies.
If they aren’t active or seem to only be boosting / posting in a way that seems designed to only game following/follower numbers I don’t follow. Also if they seem focused on topics / issues that I don’t want in my feed (this doesn’t always mean I am uninterested - it often means I’m already following folks post most of the same content so I don’t follow additional accounts that are only posting /boosting stuff I already see
@checkervest I always read it but it's less important than their posts with regards to whether I follow them.
deilann v -0.2.1. 
@checkervest i also verify whether or not they use image descriptions and content warnings, and if they mostly only boost things that meet the same rules they seem to apply to their own toots