Your follow protocol is very interesting, i didn't even know that "favorite" button existed until now i will take into a consideration !

What i do to find new people is to actually see the people who comment in other people post, like for example the people who commented in this post, i open ther profiles and when i see someone that is related to my topics ( photography, travel, fitness, food or just simply things i like) then i comment in their post and if i get a comment back on my own post too then i usually start to follow them and we get a relation of engagement trought posts, that have worked me so far!