Under linear 7 to 8 out of my 10 votes were pre-allocated. I had 2-3 votes spare.

Under this new system, I have 10 votes spare. That's already a huge improvement.

I currently support 38 authors automatically with different percentage of voting power. (between 15% - 50%). Most of these are for longer-term Steemians that have gone through all the shit and are still here. I can finally give something back to them. The new system has just been released, I think that's fine for now.

Besides that, I have more votes spare, and I upvote post I like.

Sometimes I go to the new page and vote for something I can find there but not that often. I don't enjoy that very much.

For me, It's up to new Steemians to empower themselves. Find support, make themselves known. Show up every day. Some can do it and others can't. I don't know why that is, just that it is like that.

Good curation is a mix. Your statement of 'either for me' or 'the platform' is strange and very opinionated. Like they can't co-exist. Of course, I curate for myself but I also make sure my votes go to users and projects that benefit the platform.