The independent claims all explicitly codify the follower/following mechanic. So if you want to show prior art, you'll have to find something where a user was subscribing to receive broadcast messages from other explicitly-defined users, as opposed to subscribing to a channel, group, mailing list, etc.
The heaps of similar methods that don't include follower/following is a good reminder of how easy it is to avoid infringing on this patent: just skip the follower/following mechanic.
The heaps of similar methods that don't include follower/following is a good reminder of how easy it is to avoid infringing on this patent: just skip the follower/following mechanic.