Since putting together the FAQ a while back, we've seen significant changes to the Steem ecosystem and have had many new users join us, so I think an update is overdue. Given that the full document is 56 pages long, I'm breaking it up into smaller sections so it's not overwhelming for readers. I'll be updating and sharing it one part at a time. Included in this post is "Voting."

My following posts will include the categories:

• Security
• Technical Questions
• Other

If you have any questions about Steem, let me know and I'll try to get them answered or add them to the updated FAQ.

Voting

How do I upvote a post?

At the bottom of a post, you'll see something like this:
Photo can be seen in this FAQ Google Doc

When you click this upvote button, a slider will appear (if you have sufficient Steem Power, currently about 480).
Photo can be seen in this FAQ Google Doc

Adjust the slider to your desired vote power and click the upvote button again. You have now upvoted the post.
Photo can be seen in this FAQ Google Doc

When you have upvoted the post, the arrow will turn blue. Click again to remove your upvote. When you remove an upvote, you forfeit all curation awards for that post.

Why are my blogs posts not making much money? They are higher quality than a lot of the “Trending” posts I see.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this question. But, it takes hard work, consistency, and patience to build a loyal following on Steemit. Consistently put out high-quality content, and you should gradually gain followers. Eventually, some whales will see your work.

Additionally, when a Steemit user has a long track record of producing quality content, a collection of users tend to read everything she posts. This kind of relationship usually takes some time to build.

For strategies to improve your long-term success:
@shenanigator/what-william-learned-the-hard-way-your-strategy-may-be-crippling-your-steemit-potentential

My comments rarely earn any money. How can I change that?

A wide variety of things make for popular comments, but some of the best tips are:

• Spot soon-to-be trending posts and strike early.
• Praise the post if you enjoyed it.
• Highlight a point the author made and respond.
• Add useful information, correct something, or ask a question.
• Aim for one paragraph in length
  @donkeypong/writing-popular-comments-top-5-tips-for-posting-an-honest-high-paying-reply

What are the legitimate reasons for flagging a post?

When you click the flag button on Steemit, it shows some common reasons for flagging:

• Disagreement on rewards
• Fraud of Plagiarism
• Hate speech or internet trolling
• Intentional miscategorized content or spam

If you come across a post that appears abusive, please post it in the steemitabuse chat room:
https://steemit.chat/channel/steemitabuse

How is the value of a user’s vote calculated?

The value of a single person’s vote varies based on:
Steem Power - More Steem Power means your vote has more strength in the network.
Voting Power - The higher your voting power, the stronger your vote.
See: What is Voting Power?
Vote Strength - If you have at least one million VESTS (1MV), a slider bar will appear when voting. You can vote at any percentage between 1-100, with 100 being the most powerful.
Current value of a post - If your vote is worth $0.02 on a new post, it might be worth about $0.40 if a post is already valued at $200.
Number of votes being cast that day - If fewer people are voting one day, you’ll have more influence. However, if more people are voting, your vote will be worth less.

What is Voting Power?

Think of your voting power as a big tank of water. Every time you vote, a valve at the bottom of the tank pops open and squirts out some power. The fuller the tank, the more power squirts out the valve. The amount of power that squirts out the valve is one of the things that determines how powerful your vote is. (The other is your Steem Power, which you can look up in your wallet and is an entirely separate thing.)

If you vote and vote and vote without stopping, it's like leaving the valve open, and it won't take long before your tank is empty.

Fortunately for you, there is a steady drip of power coming back into your tank! This drip refills your tank at the same rate, always, no matter what.

What happens to the drip if your tank is full? The water gets wasted! Think of it like the tank just overflows if it's full; all that voting power is just dripping down the sides going to no purpose.

How voting power works

• Your account has a number between 0 and 100 called "voting power."
• When you vote for a post, slightly more than a 200th of that voting power gets "spent" on your vote.
• Your voting power regenerates over time at a steady rate and will refill from 0 to 100 in 5 days.

How to vote optimally

• Ideally, you should never vote less than about 40 times per day with 100% power on the slider bar. To be precise, the number is 39.2, but for simplicity’s sake, we’ll call it 40. If you do vote fewer times than this, you are letting your voting power go to waste because your "tank" is full some of that time, and the "drip" is spilling over the brim.
• Surprising news: If you want to maximize your total influence, it doesn't matter how much you vote, as long as you vote more than 40 times per day. Your overall influence is the same whether you vote 1000 times per day or 40 because of the constant drip of voting power filling your tank.
• However, The more you vote, the less each of your votes is worth. So you could vote 1000 times per day, but each of those votes wouldn't be worth very much. Your total influence would be optimal, but your power per vote would be relatively small.
  @biophil/the-complete-definitive-and-yes-ultimate-guide-to-voting-power-updated

What is the voting slider?

The slider lets you change the strength of your vote. You can adjust it based on how much you like each post and how many times you want to vote each day. However, to maximize your influence in the network, we recommend not adjusting it unless you are certain you understand the tradeoffs.
See: How do I upvote a post?

Does the amount of Steem Power held by an account have a DIRECT impact on the visibility of its posts?

If the account owner votes up her post, then yes. It will add some money to the payout, which has the effect of making the post more visible.

Does flagging use up my voting power?

Yes, it does.

Does flagging bring any reward to the curator?

No, it doesn’t. However, sometimes reporting abuse such as spam and plagiarism to the steemitabuse channel on steemit.chat can earn you a reward in Steem Power from @steemcleaners.

How are curation rewards distributed?

Distribution of curation rewards depend on several factors:

Your Reward Shares (rShares)

Steem calculates rShares by multiplying Steem PowerVoting PowerVote weight

Amount of time (since posting) when the upvote occurs

In the early days of Steemit, many users were voting for posts by popular authors the moment they were posted because they would get a significant curation award. To combat this, Steem developers changed the system to reward waiting, and consequently, encourage reading posts before voting.

• If a post is upvoted the moment it is posted, 100% of the curation reward goes to the author.
• If a post is upvoted 30 min after posting, 100% of the curation award goes to the curator.
• Between 0 and 30 minutes, the amount going to the author decreases linearly.
• At 15 minutes it's a 50/50 split.
• At 3 minutes, 90% goes to the author and 10% to the curator.
• At 27 minutes, 10% goes to the author and 90% to the curator.

Post value when vote is placed vs. ending post value

If the post has a small value before you upvote it and it later becomes popular, you are rewarded for discovering valuable content.
@liberosist/mind-your-votes-an-investigation-and-guide-to-maximizing-your-curation-rewards
@steemitblog/latest-curation-reward-solution

Given all these curation rules, what is the best time to vote?

Curation rewards will be negligible us you have a decent amount of Steem Power. Until that time, just vote when you come across something you like.

If you have enough Steem Power to get a notable curation reward, there is a huge benefit to voting before others vote. However, there’s also a significant curation reward bonus for waiting up to 30 minutes after posting. Curators should weigh these two factors against each other to come up with their personal strategy.

Can I get curation rewards for voting up comments? Does the same 30-minute rule apply?

Yes, you can get curation awards for upvoting comments. No, the 30-minute rule does not apply.

Again, if you have any questions about Steem, let me know and I'll try to get them answered or add them to the updated FAQ.