Following a judge on Rate Cock
Following needs an account but costs nothing, and it makes the panel easier to come back to.
The short answer
Following a judge is free and needs an account. Browsing the panel does not. Follow a judge and she counts toward the follower count shown on her profile, which is also the number you see on every other judge.
That is all the feature is described as doing, so this post sticks to it: how to follow, what the count tells you, and when it is worth bothering.
How to follow
Open the Judges window and tap a judge to open her profile. You will see her intro clip, photos, star average, follower count and bio. Following is done from there.
You need to be signed in. If you are not, signing in takes a moment, and nothing about browsing the panel changes in the meantime. Ordering from a judge needs an account as well, so if you plan to do both, one sign-in covers it.
What the follower count tells you
The count is a rough sign of how many people chose to keep track of her. It sits next to the star average on her profile, and the two say different things: stars summarise ratings, followers show interest.
Neither replaces reading the profile itself. How to read a judge profile goes through each part, and picking your first judge covers how to weigh them against each other. A big count on a judge whose tone does not suit you is still the wrong judge for you.
Why you would bother
The practical reason is that a panel is easy to lose your place in. If you found a judge whose style you liked, following is the low-effort way to mark her, rather than hoping to find her again by scrolling.
It is also free. There is no price, no commitment to order, and no obligation to follow anyone at all. Plenty of people never follow a judge and still order without trouble.
This post does not describe a feed or alerts for followed judges, because nothing in the feature copy says there is one. Check the Judges window itself for what following currently does for you.
Following and your account
Because following is tied to your account, it is only as safe as the account is. A strong password is the cheapest protection you have. The UK National Cyber Security Centre recommends combining three random words to make a password that is long enough and strong enough, and using a password manager if you would rather not remember it.
Keeping your account secure covers the rest of what is worth doing on this site.
What following does not do
It does not cost anything, it does not oblige you to order, and it does not move a judge up or down the grid for anyone else. It is a personal marker plus a number on her profile.
It also does not replace looking at the profile before you order. Whatever you followed her for, check her prices per medium on the card: every judge sets her own, and a medium she has not priced is not on her menu. What a judge rating costs explains how the pricing works so a followed judge’s price never surprises you.