What you said here is nothing short of the truth. Very insightful.
My discovery started by commenting on potentially popular articles before they went viral, and as they went viral, so did my followers grow because other commenters who find my comment valuable will certainly hit on that follow button and check out my profile, and from there we become friends. Such a crooked path, yeah 😁. What works for me can work for anyone who engages genuinely with people's articles.