because nostr is not an api, and there is no follows_count. If you want to propose that as a protocol extension then by all means, but most nostr devs already find kind3 contact lists problematic so it’s unlikely to happen. as for caching counts when you download lists, yes thats the best you can do. but considering it is so easy to fake follow counts i don’t think its worth it or meaningful. A more meaningful metric in a decentralized network is eigencentrality (like pagerank but for web of trust)