Some people just buy followers, Just google "Followers for Medium"

It's waste of money.

There are bots to follow for humans too, sadly. Its against the rules.

There are even bot comment program that are rare and cheating too.

👩‍🦰👍This is awesome!🧡 I just love your writing🎉Bravo!!!!!👏🏼 50 friggin' claps from me to you! 🙏 I tweeted 🐤 this masterpiece to share it with the world!🐣💨…𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐! :D…..😀