Bots and language barrier could result in some of these types of comments, but I think many of these comments are done in the hopes of gaining an upvote. Each time I get a comment that makes me think they didn't read my post, I check their recent comments. A lot of these like "nice post" or "follow me" comments were left on many posts in a short amount of time (showing me that there was no way they had time to read my post - they were too busy copy and pasting comments).
I think it is definitely possible to thrive on Steemit with quality content. It just takes time.
As far as my Steemit adventure so far, I just post and enjoy the ride. To me it isn't about the number of followers I have, but the quality of followers I have. These "follow me and I'll follow you" people may have more followers than I do, but they are just a group of tiny accounts that will most likely get downvoted into oblivion by trying to cheat the system. 1 real follower is better than 1,000 fake ones.
Just keep on posting and make sure you are having fun doing it - that is what it is all about! :)
Thanks for your Genuine Comment!
I did what you said, I received a comment that seemed kinda copy and paste-ish, so I checked the comment history of the sender, the results were disappointing:
Yes, It is unfortunate. Eventually they will get downvoted for that behavior, making it less appealing for them to continue commenting like this.
It is always good to check those type of comments lol - no need to give them an upvote and promote the behavior :)