But again, why would you follow someone only to mute them? That means you’re not reading their work. I mute people all the time precisely because I don’t want to read their stuff.

You are just seeing this in such an extremely black and white way. It’s ridiculous to say the numbers should be equally balanced at all times. I have more followers than people I follow. That may well change in the future as I discover more authors I like. I’m not keeping score because that’s weird.

It’s just a fact of life that not everyone who enjoys your work is also going to write anything you’re interested in reading.