My guess is, it’s easier to lose 3K fans, than gaining 3K. The damage is done. It will take years to go back to the already low 6K numbers.
I’ve heard of a poster in a gym that read “Muscle is hard to gain and easy to lose. Fat is easy to gain and hard to lose.” (You could replace muscle with money and fat with debt if that works better for you.)
So by that analogy supporters are like muscle, which seems rather appropriate.