You're both right. This network (and us) lives and dies based on user interaction. If we're all a bunch of shitheads who attack each other for asinine reasons, we will see a decrease in Monthly Active Users. Twitter is learning this the hard way.
And building up the newer users is a very, very good idea. It's more followers for you, and they get help navigating our community. Let's be honest, it's a little strange...
It is very, very strange. I've learned to master every social platform that's come along for my own purposes. This is the most complex of them all. Money changes everything when it comes to human behavior.