A thousand followers can’t sit next to you on a bad night. Count the ones who can.

Reach and presence are two different things, and only one of them shows up as a number. A big following can be nice. It just cannot drive over at eleven at night, sit on the end of your bed and say nothing useful for an hour, which is what a bad night actually requires.

Make the short list. Who would pick up if you called right now with no explanation ready. It is usually three or four names, and the size of that list is not a grade on you. Text one of them this week about nothing in particular, because those lists stay short when nobody feeds them.