I have been using Steemfollower in the past - I took a break because my VP was drained - and it Does bring in a couple of votes, but I think it’s a bit of a waste to spend 5 votes on what’s very often low-quality posts. Of course, Steemfollower is mostly used by beginners, but I found it harder and harder to find posts I actually wanted to upvote.
I agree with you, it's hard to find good content on Steemfollower and he takes away a good part of the voice. I can not yet talk about its effectiveness since I have not felt it yet.