I'm right there with you! I spend time reading a lot of the groups that I am in, but I love to vary out and meet new people and exposed to new content helps me to grow as a writer and as a person as a whole.

I do unfollow from time to time although I'm far from religious with checking. Life is too busy for me to keep going through my list.

I trust that those who interact with me follow me because they appreciate my content. I know that I gravitate towards the posters that I know very well, but I like to keep moving and adding new people who I can interact with as long as I see that they are not spammers.

I do not follow back just because somebody leaves a nice comment, but I do go and check out their profile to see what kind of content they are producing.

I will be reading with interest to your politics of Steemit posts. There is a lot of politics whenever people get together, it's just that way.