A Guide to Followers on Twitter

Everyone from your neighbor to the U.S. president is using Twitter. It's a jungle out there in the Twitterverse, and getting to know the terminology is essential if you're going to use the platform. Here's a quick guide to what's meant by following on Twitter.

Following Someone on Twitter

Following someone on Twitter simply means subscribing to their tweets or messages to receive them and read them in your feed. If you want to know what a particular user is tweeting in real-time, you follow that person. Then, when you log in to Twitter, their comments show up in your feed, along with the tweets of those you've chosen to follow.

Following someone also means that you have granted the person you follow permission to send you private tweets, called direct messages on Twitter.

To follow a Twitter user, select the Follow button on the lower-right corner of their profile image.

Followers

Twitter followers are the people who follow or subscribe to another person's tweets. Your followers, for example, will see whatever you tweet in their feeds. If you're a follower of PersonX, you'll see PersonX's tweets in your feed (and receive notifications when they occur, if you choose).

Although the traditional meaning of follower includes an aspect of allegiance or support for a person, doctrine, or cause, Twitter has added a new dimension to the term.

In today's parlance, a follower is anyone who has clicked the Twitter Follow button to subscribe to another user's message. It doesn't necessarily indicate agreement with, or support of, the person followed—only that the follower wishes to keep up with what the person posts.

Variations on the term Follower

Many slang words for Twitter followers have come into use. These include "tweeps" (a mashup of "tweet" and "peeps") and "tweeples" (a mashup of "tweet" and "people").

Public or Private?

Following is a public activity on Twitter, which means that, unless a user has taken their Twitter timeline private, everyone can see who they follow and who follows them.

To check out who a user follows, go to their Twitter profile page and click the Following tab. To view who has subscribed to that person's tweets, click the Followers tab on their profile page.

Following vs. Friending

The difference between "following" on Twitter and "friending" on Facebook is that Twitter following isn't necessarily mutual. The people you follow on Twitter don't have to follow you back for you to subscribe to and see their tweets. The friend connection must be reciprocal on Facebook if you're to receive anyone's Facebook status updates.

The Twitter Help Center offers more details about Twitter followers and how following works on the social messaging service. It's always available from the right side of your computer screen. To find it on your phone, swipe from left to right to bring up the menu to see the link. Likewise, the Twitter Language guide offers more definitions of Twitter terms and phrases.