Living in my own little Steemtopia : why I don't Self UpVote

When I first started on steemit I was confused by the Upvote post checkbox on the Posting page.

It seemed like an odd thing to do. Wasn't it for others to decide if my post is worthy of an upvote?

Then I asked around but everyone told that was the right thing to do. So I checked the box and upvoted my posts.

But it troubled me. It seemed to go against what I thought steemit was all about - encouraging creativity, rewarding good content and being different to the outside world that is so focussed on money and greed.

I had obviously read the wrong rule book!

Then I came across a post by @stellabelle where she declared that she was stopping upvoting her own posts.

Why I Just Bought $1600 Steem and Powered Up Plus Enter My Steemfest2 Giveway!

@stellabelle is a longtime member of the steemit community and someone whose views I respected. So this made me think.

Then around the same time I saw the post by @jerrybanfield where he likewise announced that he was ending self upvoting.

Unchecking Upvote Post + Ending Self Upvoting!

These two posts convinced me. If members of the seniority of @stellabelle and @jerrybanfield were aligning behind the No SUV banner I would do likewise.

Since then I have not self upvoted. At that time of course it was financially irrelevant. The couple of cents my vote was worth really wasn't going to make any difference.

Now, having invested some $$ in steem, my vote is worth around $0.12.

12 cents is 12 cents but I live in the UK with a moderately well paying job. I don't want to be boastful but in reality it takes me only 16 seconds to earn 12 cents in my day job.

Do I need 12 cents that badly? No, I would much rather pass that on to someone else who has spent considerable time crafting a post that is not getting the rewards it deserves.

It is not hard for me to scan a few dozen posts in the New feed or in one of my favourite tags and find a post from a deserving fellow minnow that is not getting any attention.

My 12 cents upvote might just make that person feel just a little bit more appreciated on steemit and hopefully make them stick around a bit longer. And if I can engage with their post with a useful and relevant comment all the better.

I'm sure some reading this will just think I'm trying to give myself a huge pat on the back and massage my own ego.

Sorry, but I thought steemit was somewhere different. I thought it was about encouraging creativity, making connections and helping others.

I didn't think steemit was just about looking after No. 1 and making money as fast as possible. I've got the whole of the rest of the real world for that.

So I've said my piece. I've got it off my chest.

I'm sure most will just ignore this, many will disagree with it, a few might even take the time to post a comment telling me I don't know what I am talking about.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be a few that will agree with me. I know there are still a few great steemians that don't self upvote like @timcliff, @pharesim and @lyndsaybowes.

To those with a 0% No SUV score I salute you. I respect and admire you. And I thank you for playing the game with the rulebook of The League of True Steemians.

If you found this post useful or interesting please do upvote, resteem and follow. Thank you.

You might also be interested in some of my other posts :

[graphic generated from steemreports.com/outgoing-votes-info]