Sharing Is Caring: Upvotes Are The Real Currency On Steemit
I realize everything is priced in STEEM on this blockchain. That is the cryptocurrency that is tied to all we do. Whether the payout is in STEEM or SBD, all relates back to STEEM. I made this point repeatedly when discussing the advantages to pricing the payouts on the Steemit interface in USD. That is just a representation of what is being paid; the payouts are in STEEM.
So why do I say the upvotes are the real currency on here?
Again, because this is where the action is. STEEM is a representation of our voting power (or more specifically, Steem Power). Each vote cast on here has a particular payout amount calculated in SP (or a combo of SP and SBD) based upon the present Steem Power in that person's account.
That said, we do not give STEEM to people. When we like a post, we are not required to go into our wallet and decide if we are going to pay this author a dollar or two. Instead, we simply upvote the post which, depending upon the percentage we vote at, gives a certain dollar figure. The monetary value of the upvote is rarely considered.
So why do we upvote? What are we really saying when we push the button?
There are many meanings but a few that come to my mind:
-Thank you for reading my post.
-Thank you for writing this.
-Here let me help you out.
-I never thought of it in that way, thank you.
-This touched me.
-You do wonderful work on here.
-I appreciate your talent.
-You are a soul that I connect with.
-I see you are trying, hopefully this will keep you motivated.
We speak through our upvotes. They carry a message to the person we deliver them to. It is the currency of love, motivation, concern, desire, and optimism. It let's other people know we value them.
Steemit provides us with a wonderful circle. It is so natural and pure that it is baffling in many regards. Through our use of Steem Power, we announce to the world our intentions. Over the last few weeks, I noted the actions of a number of people on here. Without reiterating each of those situations, the common thread is those people used their SP to empower others, either directly or indirectly. They know SP is Voting Power and they are doing what they can to increase the Voting Power of others. In each of these instances, the SP power is going forth and multiplying.
The exceptional aspect of Steemit is each person is allocated exactly the same Voting Power each day. While it is true that the amount of value of the votes differs, no person can exceed 20% in a day and expect full replenishment. Both whales and minnows have their power restored at the rate of 2.4 hours per 100% upvote. It is truly a level playing field. Each of us decides exactly how we break that VP up on a vote-by-vote basis (those under 500 SP have to use busy.org to get the vote slider bar).
Here is an important factor which dates back to the original Steem white paper.
Voting Power is a representation of what one contributed to this site and the blockchain (since other apps read the same data). The reason why the value of votes differs because people contribute different amounts on here. Those who are here over a year and did a fair bit of posting, commenting, and upvoting are going to have more SP than someone who just joined. That only makes sense when you think about it in terms of contributions. Look through this site in terms of what is given, not received, and you see the beauty in how the values are derived.
What about people who buy STEEM to power up?
Those people are contributing also especially when they purchase based upon STEEM's decline. People who step and buy when the price of an asset is dropping provide a very valuable market service. Collectively, those people put a floor in and help to start the process of restoring confidence. At the same time, because of the powering up program, someone who buys STEEM on the open market essentially removes that STEEM by converting it to SP. That STEEM is no longer free to be traded. Also, he or she now has increased Voting Power through the purchase which benefits someone else every time the upvote button is pushed.
Therefore, each individual should want to do all he or she can to increase one's Voting Power. That is what the goal should be. The only reason to increase one's SP holding is for the benefit of Voting Power. Anyone with at least 1,000 SP, five years from now, is not going to have any financial worries. Hence, the "greed" motive should not be part of the equation.
Instead, we need to be motivated by what we can give. A vote that is worth $10 helps one out a lot more than a vote of 50 cents. For this reason, we all should try to get our votes to $10 (I really shouldn't use dollars since the increase in STEEM and SBD might make all votes worth $10 in a couple months if the present rate continues). The point is my focus on my SP is only because I know it makes my upvotes have greater impact. This, in turn, enables me to increase the value of other's voting power.
Which brings the second part of the equation. Every person on here, from the largest of whales to the newest of minnows should be using his or her 20% voting allocation each day. There is no reason to hold it. Economists talk about "priming the pump" by putting liquidity in markets to help stimulate activity (commerce). The same is true on Steemit. Upvotes are our currency and we need to increase the velocity of this entire system. That means upvoting our allotment which strengthens everyone else around. Can you imagine what this place would be like if only 100 people were voting? It would die. However, now picture what Steemit would be like if all 500K accounts were upvoting their 20% allocation.
Is there a difference between the two images? in my mind there is.
By withholding your upvotes or only voting for yourself, you are saying "I only care about myself and screw everyone else". You are announcing to everyone that greed is your basic motivation. It become evident to all that you are embracing the banker created world by only focusing upon what it is in it for you. So let me as you, do you upvote your own comments while not even upvoting the article it was in? Why do you do that? Can you honestly say you care about anyone other than yourself when you do that? In that situation, you cannot deny that your focus is on SP solely to enrich yourself. The vote power as it pertains to others does not even cross your mind. Ironic, that you want others to upvote your stuff.
Be very mindful of the messages that you send with your upvotes, or lack of them. There are people out there paying attention and could suddenly call you on it. Steemit has its share of greed but it is starting to be stamped out a little bit at a time. People who fail to get with the new paradigm will end up surrounded by few on here. And over time, the influence will shift to those who are concerned about the entire ecosystem and those in it. There are hundreds with the same mindset as 
And the sheer numbers mean that their caring is going to overwhelm a single person's individual greed.
If you found this article helpful, please give it an upvote and resteem.
Pictures by Google Images.