I have followers and I also follow.
My first follower was, SeaBreeze, and while I never expressed this before until now, I was so appreciative of her follow, because I was a newcomer and it made me feel so welcome.
Thank you for that, SeaBreeze!
As for future follows and followings, some came about through members initiating to follow me, and me them, and being old-fashioned as I am, I followed them back. I have always believed in reciprocating.
I have extended follows to a few members, with no reply or acknowledgment back from them, which told me one of two things, that A, they weren't interested, or B, they were uncomfortable with the idea of me following them, so I retracted my follows accordingly.
IMO it's a nice way to recognize those who I appreciate and enjoy on the forum.