New people don’t get much engagement because established users don’t follow new people so they leave. They feel like they are talking into the void (because they do). Even commenting on notes does...
I guess I'd say that besides a more built-in algo feed, so I was seeing interesting stuff, what you describe was my experience on Twitter from like 2011 - 2019 or so. And, I don't think I broke 100 followers until a couple years ago. Almost a decade of grind before I really felt like I was a part of it (with much engagement).