Nearly every new user I've signed on to this platform has asked me this question when they see the trending list. Maybe it's time we discuss it in the open and maybe try to answer it for our entire community and the world outside.

^Source

You logon to Steemit everyday and watch the trending authors get hundreds and thousands of votes resulting in payout value increasing to thousands within minutes, you take a quick gulp and wonder how in that world does this magic happen?

It's a difficult question to answer. I've racked my brains whenever I've gone digging into the blockchain to find some pattern to this behaviour. At the very forefront of these number of votes are also a large number of bots. Many owners of these bots who are supportive towards these regular users they vote on everyday. That as well as the curation rewards are too good to ignore which isn't a bad thing at all. I think this is what goes down somewhat in addition to a dozen secret slacks where the rich and famous live and prosper! Ha! (my first conspiracy theory on Steemit)

I'll give you my example

The usual number of votes on my posts range between 210-290 on a good day. Occasionally the number crosses 300 and very rarely 400. I've never been in the 500 votes (I would love to) and above hall of fame list.

I dont worry about the payout value as much as increasing visibility towards my work with a greater range of votes on my posts which clearly signifies higher engagement with my content. To me higher number of votes also signifies somewhat directly proportional and greater engagement levels.

Comments are a different type of engagement altogether. But even as my votes are comparatively low on my blog page, I've managed to trend on the top of the trending page 4-5 times, and great things are still happening with me.

Dear bot owners and whales, what is your general approach to voting?

^{Just because @sjennon did this!}

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Loyal Voters and Readers

The daily number of votes on my posts comes from a loyal set of readers, and for that I'm really thankful. Similarly, some of the people you see on trending are people who stuck around creating value, bringing people to the platform, networking with one another and did a splendid job of retaining engagement levels throughout the low phase (November-April) and today's that's paying off for them.

I came back from a forced sabbatical to open arms of incredible support and encouragement, post after post, comment after comment. This platform a year down the line continues to amaze me and hold my commitment and loyalty towards it! Even as I wish I was able to maintain my efforts through the past four months, nothing seems to be lost and I continue to make new friends and gain new readership by the day!

^Source

As I became more consistent with my writing everyday in the past three weeks, the number of votes have also increased, even if only marginally. The payouts have increased as well (also thanks to the Steem price doubling up). I continue to increase my Steem holdings which is what I've always wanted to do right from the start and vote on new and established users.

Remember, whether we like it or not, Value and Quality are two highly subjective things. The content you see with a high payout, the payout value again is a subjective matter.

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Do our followers really 'follow' our posts?

I've gained 500 followers in about 3 weeks of coming back to writing on Steemit. I actively engage with hundreds of established and new authors per week and reply to every comment on my blogs.

But, even as I've got a good number of followers, the votes on my posts are quite low. It's quite hard to tell if people are actually following you or doing it for the sake of it to get a follow back from an established author. But ofcourse it is impossible to vote for all unless you go around voting with a 1% vote weight.

As you can tell I follow nearly twice as many people. That's because I have in the past and continue to actively curate content as much as possible. I dont find it too hard to go through hundreds of content in a day. This was a skill built up helping run Project @curie, @steemcleaners and the early days of @robinhoodwhale.

Do you check your feed everyday or once in two days? What is your approach?

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Steem Price

Steem price undoubtedly has brought back many voters and users who were hibernating until recently. This has added to the overall engagement levels that you witness. It is time saving and easy for anyone to simply login and vote and curation rewards are a great payback for the time spent voting. Some do it manually like I do, others use bots and scripts!

^Source

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Fact of The Matter Is

@kyriacos' piece, 'Does It Really Matter How People Make Money on Steemit?' throws some light on why this behaviour is justified! It's a must read!

The fact is that we're all here to make money, get rewarded for our efforts and use this platform to improve our lives and those around us basically trumps most other intentions of using this platform.

But there many people behind the scenes who are trying to make a difference in the long run and I think it's worth your while to support their initiatives and efforts and help them add more value to this place.

Many developers make the daily trending and without supporting developers, there won't be any of this software that we use. However, It's also important to remember that without active community builders, users engaging with one another and initiatives towards community building there won't be many people to make the fullest use of our platform Steemit today.

There are many incredible authors who are also missed out unintentionally so please look out for them. In addition to voting, please also try to leave a comment on the users content you vote for. Please network and support each other as much as possible!

Thank you for your attention and support!

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If you like my work, please share my posts and follow my blog to support me. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:

1. The Hands of an Artist!
2. LetsTalk—Results From Leveraging Facebook To Promote Steemit Content!
3. This is My Plan for STEEMFEST 2017 + Slots Open for My Crew + Requesting Feedback!
4. LetsTalk—Why An Excellent Health Insurance Is a Necessity and How It Saved My Ass!
5. Ike's 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air (B&W) Photoshoot!

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