why can't i follow anyone???

i dont have the app and im just using it through chrome, but according to google, that isn't the issue. when i go to someones profile and hit follow, it says im following them but as soon as a reload the page or go to something else, it gives me the option to follow them again. and when i go to my profile it doesn't show anyone ive tried to follow. this keeps happening even with diff acounts. how to fix???