@Louiestowell yes!
The people you follow would appear on your Home feed, which should be the main feed you see when you open your app. Without knowing which app you use, I don’t know specifically.

Also, this website is pretty good at helping people get started: https://fedi.tips here is the Mastodon account you could follow too @FediTips

Hashtags will also be your friend. You can follow them, which will put them into your Home feed.

@Louiestowell I found the best place to start is the Trending section. Follow some people you find interesting. Then search a few hashtags of things you are interested in and follow some there.

Without algorithms you need to find people to follow. Respectful replying can help to start to build a group of people that you interact with.