It depends on your style of play. In short, do you like to steal lots of small pots (tight table) or would you rather win a few huge pots (loose table).

It is important to identify the strong players (and the weak ones!) at the table quickly for two main reasons:-

1) They usually don't start building a big pot without a premium hand, so don't get involved without the goods
2) Once these players identify you as a strong player, these are the players you can bluff against because they will respect your play and fold if they think they are beat. Often the good players are multitabling and don't like marginal situations so they often fold mediocre strength hands without much thought. But don't overdo it!

An important principle to follow is play small pots with small hands and big pots with big hands. It's such a simple and obvious rule but so many people forget it.

Good luck.