Some of us just want to write, not having to put a bunch of images into the post. Others do it because of its purpose to the article, the relevance, the flare, the eye catching, and the fact it makes the article just pop. Aside from those points, everyone enjoys a good visual to go along with what they are reading. I'm not the best writer, I don't claim to be. I expect a flag on every article now and don't pay any attention to the troll doing it. So if you get your first flag, don't let it discourage you.
Back on topic, images have been used to interest the reader for many decades. Newspapers use them, magazines use them, almost every Steemit user has used them at some point or another. If you aren't graphically inclined, don't be afraid of google image search, imgur, or any other source that can help you to make that article stand out. As far as it helping you to get upvotes, I am not so sure on that one, but it can help a boring article become a lot more interesting.
Now I do recommend at least trying to write something interesting to go with the article you are using the image on. Some people do get away with just an image, but those images are usually something of interest to people in themselves. I don't recommend doing this if your new, you need to have a following first so people understand why you posted the image in the first place. Who knows, I could be wrong about this. I have only been here for a month myself, but have slowly picked up a following of people that could be actually interested in what I write about or post about. I even have a troll stalker. Not a bunch of follow for follows.
I wont be posting an image with this just to see how well it does, sort of an experiment if you will to test this theory that an image could be needed. Some of the best novels I have read have no images at all in them, not even a cover illustration. Some of my favorite books were published before I was born. One of those books being a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin(Second Edition) that I found inside an old house I was helping to tear down back in my late teenage years, this book is over a hundred years old and was kept out of sunlight when I found it. The pages have barely yellowed and it is now stored inside a safe to protect it and preserve its value. It has no illustrations or images at all.
We all know how popular that book is and this post is designed to see if an article on the internet can do well without images as well. I think it could, but mostly this post is here to provide some insight for new authors on what could be detrimental to their success.
If you don't feel like reading, here is a recap my advice, even though this post completely breaks it:
*include an image
*make sure it relates to your post
*Write a caption for the image
*If its not yours, say that and give credit.
This is just my thoughts on the subject.
I'm @kingarbinv and if you enjoy my articles, please follow me for more.