but seriously - "we do not walk around with a number on our forehead in meatspace, nor should we in cyberspace"

any metrics are just numbers to hit for influencers. You can of course make metrics for any number of reasons, but true social capital is earned by just participating and seeing who you vibe with. Nostr lets anyone experiment around with whatever persona they want with minimal risk, and that's why it'll encourage others to be themselves without artificially encouraging any behavior.