Thanks man, in answer to your question, they are indeed real people. I'll explain how it works using SteemFollower as an example.

If you use SteemFollower, you can like posts on the website and you get points for doing so. These points will put your post higher up on the list of posts on SteemFollower, and you will be guaranteed a certain amount of $$$ in up-votes based upon the amount of votes you have cast yourself.

But I will re-iterate... they are all real people and real posts, it's just a place in which you can ensure you get up-votes back for the up-votes you have given.