Comments. Easy, right?
No, apparently not.
If you take the time to comment on a post, make it relevant to the content of that post. "Great post" doesn't tell the author that you read the post. "Nice photo" doesn't tell a photographer that you saw the photo. You don't need to write a college paper deconstructing anything, but say something specific about what was shared so the author knows you took the time to consider their work.
Quality interaction on your part invites quality interaction from others. If you are new to Steemit, your posts will probably be lost in the sea of spam and plagiarism that besets our platform. This is one way you can stand out from the crowd yourself. Find original content. Upvote it. Comment on it in a way that invites conversation.
Just don't beg for follows and votes, or buy bot support. If you leave a compliment, leave an upvote, too, even if you're plankton. Oh, and one more thing: don't upvote your own comments and replies, either, because that just doesn't look good. The only justification there is counteracting malicious flags.