What's following? How do I follow people on Twitter?

2. What's following? How do I follow people on Twitter?

What's following? How do I follow people on Twitter?

Like with any other social network service, Twitter would be nothing without the network.


'Following' people on Twitter isn't like friends on Facebook. Twitter is kind of pointless if you're not tuning in to other people. When you follow someone, you're basically saying to them that you're interested in the things they're saying and what they are doing, and that you would like to subscribe to their Twitter messages or 'Tweets'.


Think of it like newspapers and magazines. There are millions of publications out there, some on things you enjoy reading about and the others are just noise in the background that you can easily ignore. People on Twitter are like magazines/newspapers, but on a much, much more personal level because the messages from people you're interested in and follow will automatically be delivered to your Twitter page and everyone else is just filtered out. It's just like having your paper delivered to you in the morning without having to go to the shop.


Twitter allows you to search for a topic, much in the same way an internet search engine like Google would. Maybe you love BBQs and you type that into the search box. Twitter will then come back with all the people talking about "BBQs" at that precise moment. This is a good way to find people with similar interests and start following people.