spend a lot of time sifting through shitposts to find an author worth following.
One way to perhaps find interesting things/people to follow is to look at who is leaving comments to your work, and your comments. I know a lot of new users like myself initially feel intimidated about leaving comments, but we get over it. That is one method I use to find people to look at anyway, and maybe avoid some of the shit posters.
Oh totally. Comments are life. Also, checking who the authors you like are following. But neither is the solution to the sheer quantity and variety of content.