I think I did feel something similar within the first week of signing up. I kind of stumbled upon Steemit and didn't really know what to expect. I think it probably took me a little longer than 24 hours to appreciate the implications of STEEM and Steemit.

The account approval only took a couple of hours for me. I think your account didn't get approved because (possibly?) you were using the same IP address to create your account that your brother used to make his account. Steemit will only pay the activation fee for 1 account per household (I think). There are cheaper ways to create secondary accounts, but you still have to pay the activation fee.