Being handed the spare key to someone’s house means more than any follow back.

A key is a decision somebody made about you with real downside attached. Following you back costs nothing and reverses in a second, while letting you walk into their home when they are not there assumes you will not take anything, not snoop, not bring the wrong people. Online signals are cheap because they are easy to give. The ones that cost something are the only ones worth reading.

Sort the signals by what they cost. Then be careful with the expensive ones you have been given: lock up behind you, leave no trace, come when you said. And give one yourself to somebody who has earned it.