I just want to add a couple of things I did not mention in my other response.

1. I don't think it is possible to attract more than one or two whales or dolphins because most of them already have their own communities that feed them with upvotes. In addition, they are all big fish in their own little ponds, so there is no incentive for them to go elsewhere. They'll only come when and if they see an opportunity to bag a lot of valuable upvotes AND hold important roles in the community. Please don't let this happen. It is better to grow the community until we are creating our own whales and dolphins.
2. People who come here are doing it because a) they want people to read their posts (in many communities only two or three people actually read what you write, even if the rewards are greater), or b) because they primarily want to earn money from their posts. I am happy because I get a lot of actual views, which means at least someone here is reading the posts - and I think that is what you should focus on. The question now becomes 'how to keep people here until they grow into dolphins and whales?' Maybe post a 'best of recent posts' article periodically? Or hold contests for writing and photography for steemfollower members only?
3. Slowing down the speed of photos loading may backfire because there are a lot of photography-related posts, such as the color challenge ones.
   Anyway, those are my thoughts. So far, I like steemfollower because it isn't all about chatting with each other on discord, and people upvoting only those people that they chat with. I know that there are a few people who are borderline dolphins here, and that they actually read things, and that is better than a billion bot-votes from other communities.