Some people are okay shouting into the void and don’t care whether anyone engages or not.
I’m not one of those people. If I didn’t care about being heard, I wouldn’t be online. I want engagement and to know that I’m being heard. It’s not so much about having followers, but about experiencing interaction (like we are now). The more interaction, the better.
With a million followers, or even 12,000 followers, that was a significant PRO. Lacking that, would be a CON.