I get some nice auto votes, but I never take them for granted. I would actually rather see some other deserving people get more, but I don't necessarily have the influence to make that happen. My own votes are mostly manual, so I try to target them where they can do some good. It's not about paying people back for supporting me if they will do okay anyway.
Communities are important. Having that group support can make a big difference, but they ought to care about quality and what is good for Hive in general. We've seen plenty of voting rings who just try to milk the rewards. Of course quality is a matter of opinion. I've seen people driven away when someone else thinks their posts are 'over-rewarded' and those little dramas break out. Getting the right balance is not easy.
Hive is tiny really, but still does great things. I want to see it thrive.