can i follow someone but not see their stories

Sure. In Snapchat, you can add someone as a friend (which is like following) but there are ways to avoid seeing their stories. You can adjust your settings so that you don't receive story notifications from them. Also, if you quickly swipe past their story when it shows up briefly, it's like not seeing it. This allows you to maintain the connection of following while having control over the stories you view.

Sure. Usually, the privacy and settings options on social media apps give you the flexibility to follow a person and customize what content from them you want to view, including the option to hide their stories.

Yes. On TikTok, you can follow an account, but if you don't want to see their stories (known as TikTok Stories), you can just not engage with that part of their content. The TikTok feed mainly focuses on the regular videos they post, and stories are a bit separate. So as long as you don't actively seek out their stories, you can follow them without really seeing their stories.

Maybe they have restricted who can view their stories or set their account to private.

It depends on the platform. Some social media platforms might allow it if the story is set to public, but others might not.

If your stories have wide appeal and are related to popular or trending topics, they might show up in search results for people not following you. Also, if others share your stories outside the platform, non-followers could potentially come across them that way.

If you 'mut' (I assume you mean mute) someone's stories on platforms like Instagram, they generally can't tell directly. Instagram doesn't send a notification to the user whose story you muted that you've done so. So, no, they can't see it.

It depends on the platform or app you're using. Some might have notifications or indicators for when someone's stories are muted by you, but others might not.

It depends. Some platforms might show your story to a wider audience based on certain algorithms or settings, but generally, it's less likely for someone who doesn't follow you to see it directly.

It depends on the platform and its privacy settings. Some apps might allow it, but on many, if you don't follow them, they won't be notified of your view.