Sam 
For those wondering, this is how Calckey lets you add users to a list without having to follow them
There's a 'proxy' account that will follow a user and then the server just adds the posts to your list. Genius.
Context on how this works: https://urbanists.social/@sam/110744270334130091
Sam Wight :verified: (@[email protected])
@[email protected] Right now, lists on Mastodon require you to follow the person in order to add them to the list. If you have a lot of lists (I have 4) this can fill up your home feed too much and make it useless. To fix this, Calckey (now Firefish) lets you add a user to a list without *you* having to follow them. Instead, an automated user called the proxy user will follow them for you, then add their posts to your list. This frees up your home feed.
scott f@sam ok but I'm definitely not approving that "proxy" follow request...
@scott Yeah I'm definitely of mixed opinions on it, but more on the optimistic side. Depends on the instance for me.
Main use cases for me:
- Creating a 'funny' list so that high quality content shows up in the federated timeline
- Creating a list of news accounts or RSS feed accounts
- Basically separating things out to keep my main feed clear.
Any harassment uses or something like that would remove the semi-anonymity of it, and reports would still work.
@scott Is definitely going to depend on the server for me, like regular Misskey servers will be a no, but if the server is well-moderated or looks cute I would
Mike Huntington@sam not so much genius but more so, that's just how ActivityPub requires a users outbox to be subscribed to in order to get posts. It's really an ugly solution to be honest and hopefully the ActivityPub spec can be improved so hacky solutions like this won't be needed.
Not Sure@sam so does this bypass the follow request/approval functionality?
@DeShawnFranco Follow requests / approval should work the exact same way!
This basically just lets you add users to lists without having to follow them, keeping your Home feed a LOT more clear.
@sam but if they approve a follow request from a proxy account, then literally anyone can follow them from that proxy account without their approval. Am I misunderstanding?
@DeShawnFranco Hmmm, I'm not sure about that? I think the only thing necessary to prevent that would be on the server to prevent adding people to a list unless their account is public or you can already see their posts. I haven't tested this but I would assume it would be a bug if this didn't work that way.