You're right, it certainly doesn't automatically mean someone is engaging is superficial social following if their F2F ratio is one way or the other.

What I was trying to communicate as something to look out for is when a writer follow lots of writers, but are also superficial about it. Most people are cool about this, but there are some who are clearly trying to apply game theory and treating interactions as zero-sum based on the finite amount of subscribers on the platform.

Okay, that's it! I'm following you.