Might be a language barrier from my side but it doesn't really sound like a "strange quirk" but rather a wise decision. Following people to get followers is one of the oldest spam methods on social media. It's not surprising that they would reduce the reach of accounts using those methods.
And I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to people analysing all of it so we eventually can get an in-depth lecture on both the techniques and their decisions.
I stopped posting because I realised I might get caught in some spam filter, but I think I'll now look some more, there are so many random tidbits you can find in a company's code, it really reflects a company's culture and journey sometimes.
