Why would anyone want to stop upvoting their own posts? For many reasons, I made the conscient decision to stop upvoting myself on Steemit. I used to automatically upvote my posts as soon as I published them like most people do when they first start using the platform.
Usually, I would not upvote my own comments but did upvote my own posts. I reasoned that if I don't value my own posts why should anyone else find value in it. Back when my Steem Power was so small, my thinking was any vote was a good vote, even if it was my own, but as I started developing a following my thinking has changed.
This post is just sharing my thoughts on self-upvoting in my particular case and I'm not suggesting or implying you follow this advice. I'm sharing my point of view in my current situation.
Some of you may know I started the Open Mic contest on Steemit which is now in its 85th week! There are about 300 entries per week entering the contest and I upvote each one that follows the rules to enter. Simple math shows that to be about 42 votes per day, an amount that would quickly deplete my voting power if I upvoted at 100%.
Added to that figure are the people who I want to support by automatically upvoting them using Steemvoter.com, a service that votes for me so I don't miss their posts. I currently have another 30 people on that system and it upvotes every post they make.
So we are looking at a lot of votes when you tally it all up. Upvoting myself would give me less Steem Power to give to others and in my mind, giving a vote to someone else has more value in the long run than giving a vote to myself. Besides, the extra buck and change I would receive from self-voting my post is not going to change my life in any huge way and I would rather use it to help someone else.
I'm doing alright on Steemit and have found that the more I give to others the more I receive in return. It doesn't always work out that way each week, but for the most part, my following keeps growing with each passing week and although a lot of my followers are minnows, those same minnows will one day grow up to be dolphins and their voting power will grow along with them.
When I was minnow on Steemit (even less than a minnow, just pond scum really) I remember the first few people that helped me to evolve into a minnow and eventually a dolphin. Their support really meant a lot to me and as a result, I have been supporting them ever since. I am their loyal follower and I will always remember them.
Reciprocity is a curious thing. Being the first to give does not guarantee people will return the gesture, but being consistent with your support will eventually get noticed and attracts genuine support from others.
Genuine, voluntary support sticks with you as you build your account. It is slower than using bots, but it is real and builds a lasting community of mutually supportive people.
With few exceptions, most of the support I feel blessed to receive was offered voluntarily without me asking and as my following is closing in on 9,000 I think it is important to demonstrate not only gratefulness but selflessness as well.
No, I'm not a Buddhist monk, not by any means, but saving my voting power to give to others is creating value for others and by doing so, makes my contribution more valuable to others and in turn, others upvote what they find valuable on the platform. Does that make sense?
As Open Mic keeps growing a trail of people who also support those entering the contest began to grow. Every vote I make on those who submit an entry gets upvoted by all of the people who follow that trail. With that comes great responsibility, at least in my view.
People are trusting me to not abuse their voting power and I take that seriously and feel honored to be entrusted with the task. It allows me to help more people on Steemit because now I can lower my voting power and spread more votes around.
Currently, 134 people are following the Open Mic trail on SteemAuto.com. You can discover how to support those entering Open Mic automatically by reading How To Support Musicians On Steemit And Earn Curation Rewards By Following The Open Mic Trail
NOTE: Following the Open Mic trail does not upvote the posts I make for Open Mic, only the posts others make when they enter.
It's set up that way on purpose because I want to support others. Of course, if you would like to upvote my posts it would go a long way to helping me with giving out the weekly prizes to the winners each week.
We purposely set up the whole Open Mic trail to not auto vote my posts because I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm gaming the system to benefit me personally in a direct way. I am quick to admit though that I have discovered the more I help others on Steemit the more they tend to want to upvote my posts in support of what we are doing. People naturally support things that are in their own self-interest and many have also put my personal posts on autovote.
Another reason I stopped upvoting my own posts has to do with possible future Steem Power delegations that may come my way down the line. I have seen people on Steemit receive sizable SP delegations from various whales in support of their initiatives only to see them begin to abuse their power by upvoting themselves.
If you were a whale thinking of delegating some SP to someone in support of what they are doing for the Steemit community and you saw that they upvoted themselves 20%, 30%, or 40% of their total votes, you would probably reconsider giving them your delegation. If they never upvoted themselves and spread their voting power around to a large slice of the community then your delegation would be well managed and provide the most benefit to the most people.
As you can see from these graphs taken from SteemReports.com, there are more incoming votes coming to my account than outgoing votes coming from my account. In my view this is perfectly normal and shows that the community is finding value from what I am posting on Steemit.
You can also see that I do not self-vote. I realize not everyone thinks like that on Steemit, but if you have a long-term view of building value on this platform it's something to consider.
How much value are you providing to the community?
Incoming Votes To My Personal Account
Outgoing Votes From My Personal Account
I keep giving my votes away and building this community so that people new to Steemit can actually start trending by entering the Open Mic contest with the results of some very happy people who stick around long enough to succeed on the platform. I give more to others without worrying about what I receive with the end result for me personally of continually growing my base.
Steadily, the number of incoming votes keep growing. Yes. it's a slow process but it sticks.
Most people focus on how much they can take from the community and in my view that is shortsighted. If you really want to succeed on this platform I suggest you shift the focus on making it all about you to making it all about others.
Why?
Simple. There are a lot more "others" on the platform than there are "you" which also means there are a lot more others votes than just your one single vote. Finding a way to help as many people as you possibly can to find their "niche" or following on Steemit will be appreciated by many more people than just you and with that comes a true, loyal following along with their upvotes. Makes sense, right?
Thanks for reading my post and I'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and experiences about your journey on Steemit and what you think about self-voting in the comments below.
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