Another option might be to have the follower count in the top nav go the way of the badge count - restrict it to the profile, in which case I suspect people would keep track of their followers a lot less. Or even another option might be to use ecib's solution of followers being anonymous, but you get a one-time notification or something when you get a new follower (with their username) so you can check them out and potentially follow them back. One issue this might bring though would be that people would be spammy and follow tons of people to try to get them to follow in return, and then unfollow everyone.
I have my own "twitter problem" right now. I just joined instagram yesterday, and I don't know how to get any followers. I don't want to connect through FB, because it's a stupid and silly thing I'm doing (handwriting tweets on sticky notes and then photographing them) that I'm sure I'll lose interest in within days (but I hope not). Follow me, on that. That would be way better than following me on Hubski. Handle = dr_durp
I really don't use it personally too often. I mean too, but I just...don't. I use it mostly via my wife's store's account. I would be a lame person to follow. One instagrammer you should follow though is this guy: He's the chief Asia photog for AP and 95% of his feed is comprised of photos he snaps with his iPhone from inside North Korea. It is by far the most intimate and revealing peek behind the curtain of any source I've come across. He just left DPRK on assignment in South America unfortunately, but his feed is packed to the gills with good stuff. Edit: I did however, follow you, thenewgreen, and _refugee_ Edit 2: Dude, you at least need a profile pic. It can be a sticky note...