I only follow people who have more than 200 faves, unless they are friends or someone who I'm really interested in. Following means only that you are following their interests, what they're faving. If someone's favorites are private or if they only have a few favorites (unless they're brandy new), there's no point (to me) in using up one of my 1080 following slots on them.
What I do--if someone starts following me, I look at their faves and if what they're faving interests me then I follow them. And if I find someone who interests me in the course of my Etsy travels I follow them. But I'm choosy. You are under no obligation to follow everyone who follows you. Followers mean nothing in Etsy stats -- faves are what's important and what's followed in your stats.
