Yep yep yep.
I think I've said similar-ish things myself (though I can't help you with being fully formed ... nothing I say is fully formed!).
There's probably something to be said too about the de-humanisation of a fractured fediverse. It's hard to care about who you're talking to or whether you've known them before if it's too hard/noisy to find out. And so accounts and follows become more transactional than necessary.
Additionally there's lost follows from migrations