Get lots of requests from customers and riders in local clubs, and kinda feel I have to follow them back. Strava is quickly becoming a predominant form of social media for many cyclists though, and if you’ve got a shop, you’d be a fool to ignore it IMO.
As to who I actively follow rather than who is just background noise? A couple of pro’s, a few good mates, and a couple of guys I know that are very good at planning interesting routes.
I’m less worried how I stack up in the overall scheme of things (usually just about in the top 50% on a climb, often top 10-20% on a descent) than I am about how my own progress is coming along. Strava is useful for telling me I’ve been a lazy git, or if I perhaps have overdone it recently.