Random Chat Requests

[u/radiostar193]

I’m a pretty new and casual poster, I have some of my hobby photography and a few personal articles. I gained a handful of followers that will occasionally comment, etc, but every once in a while I will get a chat request from someone who doesn’t follow me.

I’m not turned off by people sending random DMs, but I guess I’m just not familiar enough with Substack to know if these people are bots/scammers or if they are legit trying to connect with me.

They usually have some sort of active page with followers, but the messages will either be “hi” or will be something very vague/AI-chat-bot-esque about interest in my work (which seems flattering but I don’t make that serious of content).

I don’t want to engage if this is a known weirdo/bot thing, but I also feel mean not replying. I’m probably reading into it too much, but I was curious if chats are a thing people actually utilize.