I think think the thing about Twitter is you essentially have to pretend you have a network to actually gain a network. You have to do the internet equivalent of putting yourself out there, because if someone gets to your profile and sees you have no tweets, they probably won't follow you. Its definitely a Catch-22 scenario, but things like retweeting and favoriting can help you build that network without doing stuff that feels too weird. Also using Twitter as a networking tool on top of real life is definitely helpful, as people you meet in real life will probably be more willing to engage with you on Twitter.