Twitter - can someone who understands it please help!

[ScentedScandal]

I'm new to this and am ...I click on someone to 'follow' and I can see all their recent tweets. Back in my Home page it says I am following 1 Person (have only just started!) but underneath it says I'm not following anyone. I dont understand...!. (Btw I chose Russell Brand as my first test following, so a sleb, not someone who might block me. I dont think he would anyway..) What am I doing wrong??

You are not doing anything wrong.

"Following" is the number of people you are following - 1.

"Followers" is the number of people who are following you - 0.

Russell Brand doesn't follow you just because you choose to follow him!

Yep, that's right.

You have no followers yet, so nobody can see your tweets.

You'll probably gain a few spam bots and porn stars soon, so that'll get boosted :)

It does take a while to get used to it, and I mostly 'follow' Lily Allen, but it is almost impossible to get 'celebs' to follow you.

But WHY would anyone want to follow Russell Brand??!!

Tips: Follow local people if you can, and fellow mumsnetters.
Local events happening can make it easier to find local people - recently we had SurreyFloods, so searching twitter for keywords to do with that turned up twitter users who posted pictures, video, chatted generally, road closures etc.

Follow your local police - they can sometimes be chatty, though often it is just useful local information.

Simple Tweet Guide - may be helpful, so you know what the @username at the beginning of message vs @username somewhere else in a message does to how the message is seen by people.

Thanks everyone..I think it's ok now. I couldn't see who I was following for some reason, but now I can.

I'm trying hard to like Twitter but I must admit I don't find it very enthralling. It's like reading a load of random text messages. I'm keeping at it though. I didn't like Pinterest either. I don't think I have the dedication required to keep looking at it and interacting. It all seems quite exhausting and labour intensive.

I don't know why I chose Russell..I couldn't think of who to 'follow' I have chosen a few more now. Haven't Tweeted myself yet though. I can't think of anything to say...oh dear.

Scented....I am with you! Tried to tweet and just think wtf?

It all looks so good ..... "So and so tweeted......." But the reality of all those random tweets

How do you know who is interesting to follow if they are not famous?

Pinterest also seems like someone dropped me into an impenetrable maze.

Thank you Sneeze! It's good to know it's not just me I think the upshot is that I just don't care. I feel I should and that I ought to, but I dont It seems to be largely a homogenous boiling pot of transient thoughts and trivia splurging out constantly. If anyone says anything remotely interesting it usually bobs to the surface via the news ayway. I'll keep a distant eye on it, but Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook just aren't my thing. I tried I suppose I feel weird about being 'followed' as well. Two people are following me now and I haven't even said anything. What's that all about??