How many times we upvoted a content. But are we always upvoting the content itself or do we upvote authors as well ?
Some of us have spent so much time here and of course we've made friends. Or at least we've followed so many people we like. We know the value of those we are following. Some people even don't need to be followed to be noticed. We just know their names. They become a part of our lives. Sometimes when there is nothing to curate, we take a look at those we know and check what they have created to support them. We know as well the value those people give and that's one of the reasons to follow them and support them sometimes. There are even names stuck in our heads. Names we may never forget.
The same about each community created and each tribe. We know who is running it, we know who is the most supported and the most active in it. By the way, active doesn't always mean supported. It's hard for some active people to be noticed, but that also depends on their activity, their point of views and the information they share. If they are active and bringing value in any form, for sure they will be supported. If their point of view match with what the majority do and that's for the sake of the community, such author will be more likely supported. If the information is original, well written and formated, it will win great upvotes as well.
So, telling that we upvote only the content here is wrong, the same if we tell that we upvote only authors. I think every single curator has to have a balance between doing both. If we don't support quality content, the platform will be full with bad content. If we don't support those who are doing well for the community, what will motivate others to do their best?
That's why when we see some authors always in the trending page, we shouldn't think that it's unfair to see them there every single day and that we should have a better distribution of rewards. But we have to think about the value those authors are bringing to the community. How often they are commenting others, how active they are curating content, how much they invested in the platform including time and money.
Sometimes not thinking about the rewards may bring even more rewards. That's the paradox, but that logical.