OK, what are using for a browser? I'm not seeing what you're seeing. I have no "magnifying glass" or I'm blind.

At the top of a topic is a drop down for topic option where you can select "add topic to your watched topics"

Same with forum to add a forum to your watch list.

You can also go to "My stuff" and click on watch list and edit which list you want.

After all that you need to turn on email notifications in your preferences, also under "My stuff"

Retired phone dude