Personally, I follow writers who write well, who write about interesting things, whose work I have read and enjoy (usually more than one piece). I don’t necessarily follow those who follow me. I also occasionally go through the list of those I’m following and weed out the odd writer who I feel has gone in a direction that doesn’t suit me. I haven’t published much of my own as of yet, but I like to think I’m a discerning reader and would hope those who follow my writing would be too, to be honest. I clap a lot, because I want to show my appreciation to anyone I feel was worth reading, who have something real to say, who aren’t writing lists/’advice’ or churning out ‘content’ and seeming more interested in marketing than writing good pieces. I know people rely on earnings from this site, but really, there’s plenty of people who still manage to ensure their writing is of a good quality and their subject matter is interesting and engaging — not just titillating, gossipy and/or clickbait.