With many of us having more than a few friends how often do you check out what they have written lately through the "Friends Activity" panel? under your avatar picture in the menu line.
I do it every time I log on.
When I check in I go to my profile page and see what the latest friend's activity is listed. I also go back to my profile page often while logged on. I keep up with their doings quite well.
Every time I log in. It's a tight circle but prolonged absences still make me miss a lot.
I check it only when I first log in. I am usually surfing the stories or checking emails and maybe who added me as a friend today. *Hint Hint* Meggsy. LOL. The popups let me know if anything new is happening otherwise.
I don't do that because I'm not a stalker type. Friends activity is of no interest to me. But what interests me is messages and mail I receive to which I to respond. And if I want to chat I go to a chat room or look at who's online.
Daily, and I am so glad it is working again. Generally the second thing I check, after the Timeline. I like to see what threads they are commenting on, what their blog post is, yadayadayada.
Then, like Scott, I pull up a barstool at Rump's and ramble for a bit.
I usually check it when I sign on; a lot of my friends are articulate, clever and/or hysterically funny so I love checking their posts. I get notifications for the stories of my friends or those I'm following so I don't really use the Friends Activity to find their stories. I do occasionally go check out a story if one of my friends has scored or commented.