I got a response today, from someone who joined. I linked them to a poem I wrote on here, they replied: "I created an account on steemit and think I upvoted this compelling poem."

Now we shall see if they become regular users or if they fizzle out. I think the upvoting system is not as obvious here as it is on other social media sites, because it is at the bottom of the post instead of off to the side the entire time. However, I don't want steemit to be like other sites, so I am fine with that.