I agree with your assessment. I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to other social media platforms. TBH, sometimes taking shortcuts in the beginning pays off in the long run.
The trick is to follow people who constantly have trending posts. It seems like there are around 40-50. Maybe a little less. Catch their new posts as soon as they come out, and comment, up-vote ect.
Do that about 20 times a day. Only up vote posts that are still low. On the larger accounts. Later upvote minnows to help build their accounts.
my pleasure to follow u @mathiasian