I’ve been seeing this way too often lately, so here are my thoughts. 

I DO NOT follow for follow. Period. 

This is not a high school. It’s not a place where you should be farming popularity. 

If you make good use of Lens, then people will follow you. If you actually engage in conversation, people will follow you. Those are the only follows that matter. 

It’s super awful that I used to have to post this exact message on Twitter, years ago. 

Just talk to people. Don’t worry about followers unless they actually talk to you. 