On Mastodon, you can use a follow request system to restrict who can follow you. When it’s switched on, no one can follow you unless you manually approve their request. This can be used to screen who follows you.
To switch on the follow requests system:
- Log in through your server’s website or through the Mastodon web app
- Click on your profile image to go to your profile page
- Click on Edit profile
- Click on the Privacy and reach tab
- UN-tick the box marked Automatically accept new followers
- Click the Save changes button at the bottom of the page
After you’ve done this, a padlock icon 🔒 will appear next to your username on your profile. Anyone who tries to follow you will automatically send you a follow request, which you can approve or deny.
If you change your mind about using follow requests, do the same thing again but tick the box instead of unticking it.
How do I approve or reject follow requests?
Depending on which app or interface you are using, follow requests will appear in your notifications or in a special section dedicated to follow requests. Click the ✔️ tick icon to approve a request, or the ❌ cross icon to reject it.
Don’t reject followers just because their profile seems to be blank
Because of the way posts federate on Mastodon, some profiles may appear blank even when they aren’t. This tends to happen with accounts that are new and/or have few followers. You can check if an account is really blank by looking at its “original page”.
Don’t reject followers just because they don’t have a picture
Don’t screen followers out just because they have blank profile pictures. Many blind users don’t use profile pictures, but they will have text in their profile. The best way to screen potential followers is to read what they have written about themselves and what they have posted.
How do I stop non-followers seeing my posts?
You can set your posts to the Followers-only visibility setting, either manually or by default. When this is combined with the follow requests system, it means only people you choose can see your posts.
I can’t see follow requests on my app!
If your app doesn’t support showing follow requests, you might want to switch to a different app.
Is the other person notified if I reject their request?
No, there isn’t any notification for rejected requests.
Can the other person try to follow me again if I reject their request?
Yes, they can reattempt a follow as soon as you’ve rejected their request. However, as they aren’t notified about the rejection they are very unlikely to do this. They can only attempt again when the follow button on your profile reverts to its old state, and they have no way of knowing this has happened except manually checking your profile.
If someone does repeatedly reattempt to follow you and it’s getting annoying, just leave their latest request unanswered. Unanswered requests will prevent them following you and also prevent them reattempting to follow you.
If it is someone harassing you and you want to block them, you can block their account. You may also want to report any harassment so that server admins can potentially take further action.