Here's an idea: why don't we take away the incentive to be a power user? I think that it is counterproductive that when I click on someone's profile, one of the first things I see is how many people are following their content. Who cares? It only serves to reinforce that group mentality that's so rabid on other aggregate websites. When new users see someone with 1000 followers, they say 'this person must post interesting content. I have no idea where to begin, I might as well follow the power user!'. This is a big negative. Users should be following people based on the merits of posts they've experienced first-hand. IMO, if Hubski is going to be about the conversation, we have to take away the incentive for knee-jerk, follow-the-leader behavior. The best way to do this is to quantify merit on a post-by-post basis. I'm not saying to do away with followers, just don't make the number of followers public.

Some constructive advice: instead of showing followers, and perhaps even instead of showing all of the links submitted outright, I think that the links of articles a user has posted in should be displayed, followed by a 1st tier comment by the user. This will truly encourage conversation, and give anyone scoping out their profile an idea of whether or not they will enjoy the content that's the user is pedaling. I would do links in a drop-down/expandable text.