I don't know where you saw the word.I haven't seen the word ,so I do not know what's the word mean but,I think the name "followers" is right to a certain extent.because there are many language learner could't keeping on studying language,they give up on learning language for their own's reasons,italki.com is just like a teacher ,she often sends emails to us to remaid us don't give up on studying and follow her ,login the website,there are many langusge missions here for you to compleate,there are many language natives here that you can learn from,they are many learners just like us that we can communicate with,so,follow here perhaps has another meaning keep on doing. so i think the name followers is right to our learners who maybe give up on learning like me,so follow here perhaps means don't give up and follow us,we study the language well together,so we are called followers. but it's right to a certain extent,for those friends who keep on studying ,it's not suitable. personal view.If i have made wrong understanding,pls don't laugh at me.

right，"交" can be a verb that be used to establish a relation with people,for example, 交朋友，交女朋友，交男朋友， "交" is similar to "establish" or "make" in English.if you want to learn more,contact me please