I follow about 80 people on Strava. Almost all of them are local people I have ridden with at least a couple times although I do follow a couple of pros just to see what they do. (its a big city so there are lots of local riders). Of all those, there is probably a core group of about 15-20 friends and regular riding partners I actually pay attention to, just to see what folks are doing, what I might have missed by skipping the group ride, who braved the cold or rain today, etc. I find it motivating to see what my buddies are doing and knowing they are going to see what I did (or did not do). Due to people moving in and out of the area over the years, I follow some regular folks I’ve met who now live around the US, in Australia and various European countries which is kind of fun.
I have about 110 followers. I at least know who most of them are even if we are not close but there are some random folks in there from out of town I must of picked up from Zwift. It doesn’t bother me but totally random follows of “average joes” are a bit weird.