@Geri Oh yes. There's more to it, for sure. I think I had to click a manual follow request, it wasn't automatic. I didn't do that. I thought it may have been someone trying to impersonate you. So, I wandered off to check! Luckily I didn't get distracted and forgot. I'm sure there are all sorts of other reasons that create friction.

@Geri I think this maybe a structural quirk of the Fedi. I think migration signals only reach followers who are currently active and online. If a significant chunk of your audience is dormant, those connections simply won’t ‘wake up’ to update their follows when you move. I think it's less about your followers disappearing and more about the protocol revealing who is engaging regularly versus the many bots and ghost accounts. The reality of decentralization, I guess. But helps you clarify who your active community really is!