diff --git a/components/Left/Left.php b/components/Left/Left.php
index 6e5d65e7b9..d1fa80fde8 100644
--- a/components/Left/Left.php
+++ b/components/Left/Left.php
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 namespace Component\Left;
 
 use App\Core\Event;
+use App\Core\Log;
 use App\Core\Module;
 use App\Util\Common;
 use Exception;
@@ -31,10 +32,14 @@ class Left extends Module
         try {
             $user = Common::user();
             if ($user != null) {
-                $vars['user_nickname'] = $user->getNickname();
-                $vars['user_tags']     = $user->getActor()->getSelfTags();
+                $actor                  = $user->getActor();
+                $vars['user_nickname']  = $user->getNickname();
+                $vars['user_tags']      = $actor->getSelfTags();
+                $vars['user_followers'] = $actor->getFollowersCount();
+                $vars['user_followed']  = $actor->getFollowedCount();
             }
         } catch (Exception $e) {
+            Log::error('Got an exception while populating variables for the left panel: ' . $e);
         }
         return Event::next;
     }
diff --git a/src/Entity/Follow.php b/src/Entity/Follow.php
index 57dc690add..3412651352 100644
--- a/src/Entity/Follow.php
+++ b/src/Entity/Follow.php
@@ -111,17 +111,13 @@ class Follow extends Entity
             'fields' => [
                 'follower' => ['type' => 'int', 'not null' => true,  'description' => 'gsactor listening'],
                 'followed' => ['type' => 'int', 'not null' => true,  'description' => 'gsactor being listened to'],
-                'uri'      => ['type' => 'varchar', 'length' => 191, 'description' => 'universally unique identifier'],
                 'created'  => ['type' => 'datetime',  'not null' => true, 'default' => 'CURRENT_TIMESTAMP', 'description' => 'date this record was created'],
                 'modified' => ['type' => 'timestamp', 'not null' => true, 'default' => 'CURRENT_TIMESTAMP', 'description' => 'date this record was modified'],
             ],
             'primary key' => ['follower', 'followed'],
-            'unique keys' => [
-                'subscription_uri_key' => ['uri'],
-            ],
-            'indexes' => [
-                'subscription_subscriber_idx' => ['follower', 'created'],
-                'subscription_subscribed_idx' => ['followed', 'created'],
+            'indexes'     => [
+                'follow_follower_idx' => ['follower', 'created'],
+                'follow_followed_idx' => ['followed', 'created'],
             ],
         ];
     }
diff --git a/src/Entity/GSActor.php b/src/Entity/GSActor.php
index 017e5a2e8a..d91060ae71 100644
--- a/src/Entity/GSActor.php
+++ b/src/Entity/GSActor.php
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 namespace App\Entity;
 
+use App\Core\Cache;
 use App\Core\DB\DB;
 use App\Core\Entity;
 use App\Core\UserRoles;
@@ -219,7 +220,10 @@ class GSActor extends Entity
 
     public function getSelfTags(): array
     {
-        return DB::findBy('gsactor_tag', ['tagger' => $this->id, 'tagged' => $this->id]);
+        return Cache::get('selftags-' . $this->id,
+                          function () {
+                              return DB::findBy('gsactor_tag', ['tagger' => $this->id, 'tagged' => $this->id]);
+                          });
     }
 
     public function setSelfTags(array $tags, array $existing): void
@@ -235,6 +239,25 @@ class GSActor extends Entity
         foreach ($pt_to_remove as $pt) {
             DB::remove($pt);
         }
+        Cache::delete('selftags-' . $this->id);
+    }
+
+    public function getFollowersCount()
+    {
+        return Cache::get('followers-' . $this->id,
+                          function () {
+                              return DB::dql('select count(f) from App\Entity\Follow f where f.followed = :followed',
+                                             ['followed' => $this->id])[0][1];
+                          });
+    }
+
+    public function getFollowedCount()
+    {
+        return Cache::get('followed-' . $this->id,
+                          function () {
+                              return DB::dql('select count(f) from App\Entity\Follow f where f.follower = :follower',
+                                             ['follower' => $this->id])[0][1];
+                          });
     }
 
     public static function schemaDef(): array
diff --git a/templates/left/left.html.twig b/templates/left/left.html.twig
index 997be9b789..27b13787fb 100644
--- a/templates/left/left.html.twig
+++ b/templates/left/left.html.twig
@@ -30,12 +30,8 @@
                       {% endfor %}
                     </div>
                     <div class="stats">
-                      <span>
-                        <b>1337</b>
-                        Followers</span>
-                        <span>
-                          <b>42</b>
-                          Following</span>
+                      <span> <b> {{ user_followers }} </b> {{'Followers' | trans}} </span>
+                      <span> <b> {{ user_followed }} </b> {{'Followed' | trans}} </span>
                     </div>
                   </div>
                 </a>