I must admit the system is a bit odd.

Strava keeps wanting me to add followers that are 100 miles away, rather than the ones that are local, and hitting the same segments that I regularly ride. Some seem to be racers with hundreds of followers, some seem to be more ordinary riders.

It would be nice if it had a private message system. But, perhaps they worry about abuse (and server capacity).

I did have an acquaintance I met on a group ride 100 miles away who found me on Strava (and thus all the follower suggestions near her rather than near me).

As far as I know, she is the only one giving me kudos. And, I'll tick off a few kudos when she does special group rides, or gets PRs on segments. Otherwise, I tend to ignore "commutes". Likewise, she'll tick off my "fun rides".