What is the use of following?

Question

What is the use of following somebody or somebody following me?

Answer 1

Their activity shows up in your activity feed and (I think) it helps them show up in your @mentions list.

There might be other benefits (other than badge grabbing) that I haven't been cognizant of yet.

Amend: When looking through projects in the Code Playground, there is a filter for "Your Network".