Twitter: Why can't I follow people?

Why can't I follow people?

If you're unable to follow more accounts, you've probably hit a follow limit. Twitter has imposed reasonable limits to help prevent system strain and to limit abuse. Remember that:

• If you hit a technical limit, you'll see an error message when you try to follow. 
• You cannot follow a user who is blocking you. 
• We do not limit the number of people who can follow you. 

Twitter's technical follow limits:

1. Every account can follow 2,000 users total. Once you’ve followed 2,000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow. This number is different for each account and is based on your ratio of followers to following; this ratio is not published. Follow limits cannot be lifted by Twitter and everyone is subject to limits, even high profile and API accounts.
2. Every Twitter account is technically unable to follow more than 1,000 users per day, in addition to the account-based limits above. Please note that this is just a technical limit to prevent egregious abuse from spam accounts.
3. Accounts are also prohibited from aggressively following other users. Our Follow Limits and Best Practices Page has more information on Twitter’s following rules.

What to do if you've hit a follow limit:

If you've reached the account-based follow limit (2,000 users), you’ll need to wait until you yourself have more followers before you can follow additional users. Follow limits are system-wide; Support cannot remove or adjust your follow limits.

To follow one or two additional users, unfollow a few accounts you're currently following. Please note, however, that regularly following and unfollowing many accounts at a time is a violation of the Twitter Rules and can result in account suspension.

Why Twitter limits following behavior:

These limits help us improve site performance and reliability and help us make Twitter a nice place for everyone. We’ve included a more in-depth discussion of why we have follow limits on the Follow Limits and Best Practices Page.

What to expect if you're "whitelisted":

Some API administrators have whitelist status so that their applications can function without hitting system limits for direct messages and API requests per hour. Whitelisting does not increase the follow limits and all accounts are subject to the same follow limits and rules. You can find information on our current update, DM, and API requests on the About Twitter Limits help page.