diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/app/pages/profile.js b/app/assets/javascripts/app/pages/profile.js
index 8c789f382..13fa88566 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/app/pages/profile.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/app/pages/profile.js
@@ -24,11 +24,10 @@ app.pages.Profile = app.views.Base.extend({
   presenter : function(){
     var bio =  this.model.get("bio") || ''
 
-    console.log(this.isOwnProfile())
-
     return _.extend(this.defaultPresenter(),
       {text : this.model && app.helpers.textFormatter(bio, this.model),
-       isOwnProfile : this.isOwnProfile() })
+       isOwnProfile : this.isOwnProfile(),
+       showFollowButton : this.showFollowButton() })
   },
 
   initialize : function(options) {
@@ -55,6 +54,14 @@ app.pages.Profile = app.views.Base.extend({
       evt.preventDefault();
   },
 
+  followingEnabled : function() {
+    return app.currentUser.get("following_count") != 0
+  },
+
+  showFollowButton : function() {
+    return this.followingEnabled() && !this.isOwnProfile()
+  },
+
   isOwnProfile : function() {
     return(app.currentUser.get("guid") == this.personGUID)
   }
diff --git a/app/assets/templates/profile.jst.hbs b/app/assets/templates/profile.jst.hbs
index 1636383c1..b6173ac81 100644
--- a/app/assets/templates/profile.jst.hbs
+++ b/app/assets/templates/profile.jst.hbs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 <div id="top-right-nav">
-
-    {{#unless isOwnProfile}}
+    {{#if showFollowButton}}
         <a href="#" onClick="alert('Not yet implemented!')" id="follow-button">
             <span class="label label-inverse">
                 <i class="icon-plus icon-white"></i>
@@ -9,7 +8,7 @@
                 </span>
             </span>
         </a>
-    {{/unless}}
+    {{/if}}
 
     <a href="/" id="home-button">
         <span class="label label-inverse">
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@
     {{/if}}
 </div>
 
-
 <section id="profile-info"/>
 
 <div id="composer" style="display:none;">
@@ -47,6 +45,6 @@
     {{/if}}
 </section>
 
-<section id="canvas"/>
+<section id="canvas"></section>
 
 <div id="paginate"><span class="loader hidden"/></div>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/presenters/user_presenter.rb b/app/presenters/user_presenter.rb
index 8fd5af0a1..8b0b7f0c9 100644
--- a/app/presenters/user_presenter.rb
+++ b/app/presenters/user_presenter.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ class UserPresenter
         :unread_messages_count => unread_messages_count,
         :admin => admin,
         :aspects => aspects,
-        :services => services
+        :services => services,
+        :following_count => self.user.contacts.receiving.count
       }
     ).to_json(options)
   end
diff --git a/spec/javascripts/app/pages/profile_spec.js b/spec/javascripts/app/pages/profile_spec.js
index 162dfa26b..d37cf584d 100644
--- a/spec/javascripts/app/pages/profile_spec.js
+++ b/spec/javascripts/app/pages/profile_spec.js
@@ -40,11 +40,16 @@ describe("app.pages.Profile", function(){
         expect(this.page.$("#profile-controls .control").length).toBe(2)
       })
 
-      it("shows a follow button if not", function() {
-//        will fix this in the next commit.
-//        spyOn(this.page, "isOwnProfile").andReturn(false)
-//        this.page.render()
-//        expect(this.page.$("#follow .control").length).toBe(1)
+      it("shows a follow button if showFollowButton returns true", function() {
+        spyOn(this.page, "showFollowButton").andReturn(true)
+        this.page.render()
+        expect(this.page.$("#follow-button").length).toBe(1)
+      })
+
+      it("doesn't show a follow button if showFollowButton returns false", function() {
+        spyOn(this.page, "showFollowButton").andReturn(false)
+        this.page.render()
+        expect(this.page.$("#follow-button").length).toBe(0)
       })
     })
 
@@ -118,4 +123,30 @@ describe("app.pages.Profile", function(){
       expect(this.page.isOwnProfile()).toBeFalsy()
     })
   })
+
+  describe("followingEnabled", function(){
+    /* for legacy beta testers */
+    it("returns false if following_count is zero", function(){
+      app.currentUser.set({following_count : 0})
+      expect(this.page.followingEnabled()).toBeFalsy()
+    })
+
+    it("returns false if following_count is zero", function(){
+      app.currentUser.set({following_count : 1})
+      expect(this.page.followingEnabled()).toBeTruthy()
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe("followingEnabled", function(){
+    /* for legacy beta testers */
+    it("returns false if following_count is zero", function(){
+      app.currentUser.set({following_count : 0})
+      expect(this.page.followingEnabled()).toBeFalsy()
+    })
+
+    it("returns false if following_count is zero", function(){
+      app.currentUser.set({following_count : 1})
+      expect(this.page.followingEnabled()).toBeTruthy()
+    })
+  })
 });