Yes they do. And you'd also need to find them if you're very new here and serious to earn on Steemit. One can't be idle and wait for them to come to you. One must be proactive here.
Just because I said "friends" doesn't make the fact that curators will of course look at the post of people they follow and know first before going out and finding other worthy posts. 😆 It's only natural to check on your closest network then go out and find other posts from people you "don't know". Of course that doesn't mean it's what all curators do.