It seems that you are introduced to the most followed users and that's all you have to choose from, how do you find new submitters? Or further, how do they find YOU?
Post interesting content, do NOT post content we find offensive, childish, or immature. But Hubski isn't one person, so your content may appeal to some, and not to others. People may follow you that I follow, and even if I don't follow you myself, I still might see your content that the people I follow share, and I already follow them because I enjoy what they post, so I'll probably read it. So even just having one follower, depending on who it is, could put your content infront of a lot of people. For the most part, if content is good, and I see a lot of good posts come from someone that I continually enjoy, I'll follow them. If they post stuff I do not like and don't want to see, i'll ignore them. If it's just middle of the road stuff that doesn't bother or wow me, I'll just do nothing. I feel like this is kind of how many people here approach following others. My advice, don't worry about gaining followers in the beginning, and don't look at followers like a scoreboard like Reddit karma points are. Just read through posts, and follow people and tags you find interesting and kind of see how things work.
If you put in a URL that has already been linked to it won't let you post.
does that mean that if someone posts an interesting article here and has no followers and almost nobody reads it, and then 3 years in the future when there are very different people on the site who would be interested, it is impossible for anyone to post it or read it?
You could search for it, find it, and comment on it or share it. To my knowledge that would bring it back into the feeds once again. But I am not sure. You'd have to get a response from MK, b_b, thenewgreen, or one of the other Hubski peeps.
You can find people by perusing some tags that interest you, or by clicking on the community page to find more users. To gain followers, that's another story. If people like what you submit and like what you comment on then they will follow you. It's as simple as that, but the gaining followers part is pretty non-important. It's all about posting what you think is interesting and they will come from there.
15rthughes, I think that one of the best ways to use the site is to not worry about gaining followers, or even following too many people, and just take your time. Poke around, check out some people and tags, dip into the conversation that is already happening, check out the 'badges' page to see insightful comments and posts that have been recognized by the community. If you want followers, they will come in time by engaging with people. If you want a shitload of followers quickly....I don't think Hubski is that place or ever will be. But to get back to your first sentence, I would again, recommend clicking on the 'badges' page...it will take you to people and content that the community has recognized as being valuable enough to spend a badge on. Have fun poking around! :)
The circle icons at the top right of your screen are what we call 'global' posts. They represent all the posts that have been made recently with 0-8+ shares (indicated by the number of "spokes" on the wheel). You can peruse them to see who posts things that are interesting to you. On the other hand, to gain followers, just post things that interest you. People will find and share/reshare. If you post it, they will come.