Hello, Andrew. I'm not here for the upvote, I saw the title and it reminded me of a Steemian who used to reward all of his commentators on each post. When I saw this post, I thought: They're gonna swarm this poor guy, just like the other one who would use up a lot of his VP on comments.
Magical followers
I noticed this issue a few weeks ago. Every time I published a new post, I'd get a spike in new followers and wondered what was going on. Your explanation makes perfect sense.
I too, have struggled with interaction and tested out the upvote services to see the results. Yes, you get votes, but they also drain your wallet. I've tried commenting on others posts to ferret out real people, but rarely get sustained real connections in return.
The Whales are too busy to respond and the new people just want upvotes or follow for follow. Steemit Chat used to be more productive, but now It's just friends talking to each other. Discord is a complete waste of time. Pop in and say hello or try to join a conversation? and no response.
Shorter posts? Maybe...
My last post Steemit Special Report (not a plug) was done without the use of an upvote service, and you can see the results. You're damned if you use the upvote services and ignored if you don't. It's a real catch-22. Not one to give up, I'm going to keep trying to interact, as I really believe in this platform.
I'm about to finish up my longest post yet about a friend who turned out to be a Psychopath and wondering if I should even bother. However, I really think it might help some people, so in the end, I'll likely hit that "post" button. Cheers! :)
Wow, nice comment! Sorry because I can't write a decent enough response to your comment, but I am not currently at home :)
There is indeed a lack of interaction here, but let's be us better whales than the ones today, Steem offers us that chance!