diff --git a/viera/actor.py b/viera/actor.py
index c5ebd0d..ae166d3 100644
--- a/viera/actor.py
+++ b/viera/actor.py
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ async def actor(request):
             "sharedInbox": "https://{}/inbox".format(request.host)
         },
         "followers": "https://{}/followers".format(request.host),
+        "following": "https://{}/following".format(request.host),
         "inbox": "https://{}/inbox".format(request.host),
         "name": "Viera",
         "type": "Application",
@@ -76,19 +77,24 @@ async def push_message_to_actor(actor, message, our_key_id):
     }
     headers['signature'] = sign_headers(headers, PRIVKEY, our_key_id)
 
+    logging.debug('%r', headers)
+    logging.debug('%r >> %r', actor['inbox'], message)
+
     async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
         async with session.post(actor['inbox'], data=data, headers=headers) as resp:
             pass
 
 
 async def follow_remote_actor(actor_uri):
+    logging.info('following: %r', actor_uri)
+
     actor = await fetch_actor(actor_uri)
 
     message = {
         "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
         "type": "Follow",
         "to": [actor['id']],
-        "object": [actor['id']],
+        "object": actor['id'],
         "id": "https://{}/activities/{}".format(AP_CONFIG['host'], uuid.uuid4()),
         "actor": "https://{}/actor".format(AP_CONFIG['host'])
     }
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ from .authreqs import check_reqs, get_irc_bot
 
 async def handle_create(actor, data, request):
     # for now, we only care about Notes
-    if data['object']['type'] != Note:
+    if data['object']['type'] != 'Note':
         return
 
     # strip the HTML if present
@@ -119,7 +125,7 @@ async def handle_create(actor, data, request):
 
     # fetch our IRC bot
     bot = get_irc_bot()
-    bot.relay_message(actor, data['object'], content)
+    bot.relay_message(actor, data['object'], ' '.join(content))
 
 
 async def handle_follow(actor, data, request):
diff --git a/viera/irc.py b/viera/irc.py
index 11d97ff..61a5b91 100644
--- a/viera/irc.py
+++ b/viera/irc.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import base64
 from blinker import signal
 
 from . import CONFIG
+from .actor import follow_remote_actor
 from .irc_envelope import RFC1459Message
 
 from .authreqs import new_auth_req, set_irc_bot, check_auth, fetch_auth, drop_auth
@@ -99,6 +100,10 @@ class IRCProtocol(asyncio.Protocol):
             return
         self.say(chan, '\x02{0}\x02: \x02{1}\x02'.format(nickname, data), verb='PRIVMSG')
 
+    def follow(self, nickname, actor_uri):
+        asyncio.ensure_future(follow_remote_actor(actor_uri))
+        self.say(nickname, 'Following \x02{}\x02'.format(actor_uri))
+
     def set_pending_action(self, nickname, action):
         if nickname not in self.pending_actions:
             self.pending_actions[nickname] = action
@@ -117,6 +122,9 @@ class IRCProtocol(asyncio.Protocol):
             self.say(nickname, "The association of \x02{0}\x02 with \x02{1}\x02 has been dropped.".format(account, data))
         elif 'whois' in action:
             self.whois(nickname, action['whois'], account)
+        elif 'follow' in action:
+            logging.info('allowed follow: %r', action['follow'])
+            self.follow(nickname, action['follow'])
 
     def handle_auth_req(self, req):
         self.say(req.irc_nickname, "The actor \x02{0}\x02 is now linked to the IRC account \x02{1}\x02.".format(req.actor, req.irc_account))
@@ -155,6 +163,12 @@ class IRCProtocol(asyncio.Protocol):
         elif message.params[1] in ('voice', 'invite', 'drop'):
             self.set_pending_action(source_nick, message.params[1])
             self.fetch_account_whox(message)
+        elif message.params[1][0:6] == 'follow':
+            chunks = message.params[1].split()
+            logging.info('considering whether to follow: %r', chunks[1])
+
+            self.set_pending_action(source_nick, {'follow': chunks[1]})
+            self.fetch_account_whox(message)
 
     def handle_public_message(self, message):
         if not message.params[1].startswith(IRC_CONFIG['nickname']):