I think it's that some clients start new users off with some suggested follows, so literally every person that creates a key using that app ends up following those people. I don't think they are bots, but a lot are probably inactive.
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That makes a ton of sense tbh
This is exactly what happens. It creates artificial inflation in follower numbers and why follower numbers really shouldn't be a measure of someones worth.
I think it also causes a lot of people to throw up their hands and say their isn't activity on here because that's their 1st impression of nostr as many of these public figures don't engage with their followers in any meaningful capacity. So people see that and bounce back to Twitter where their is more activity.
I have been advocating for months now that clients should emphasize on regularly posted hashtags in on-boarding rather than public figures. Helps grow those communities and helps in user discovery as their typically hobby/interest related and they can see all the active posters who participate.
Yeah, hashtags would be better for sure. They're also a good way for someone with no followers to get their posts seen.