There has been some misconceptions about the types of votes (specifically upvotes) available so I thought that I would spell out some of the more common types of votes and demystify them a little.

Some of the opinions expressed below may cause discomfort and/or anxiety so please read them with your sense of humor intact and if that does not thwart the discomfort because you find the words 'striking a nerve' then I probably wrote this with you (or folks like you) in mind.

Just rest assured that I am absolutely Sorry/Not-Sorry about that last bit and if the shoe fits then wear it until you either outgrow it or it falls apart altogether.

Anyway, here are a few of the types of votes as I see them and while you read them perhaps consider what kinds of votes pertain to you.

Obligatory Image To Make This Post More Attractive.

The Circle-Jerk Vote:

A vote given as a way to pat someone on the back for just showing up and being a part of your socioeconomic peer group.

This kind of vote is often distributed between whales and dolphins who are curators that also create content who due to their socioeconomic status are immune to critique and honest discussion about their content.

The Sympathy Vote:

A vote given out of pure sympathy to a content creator because honestly their content sucks and no one has the heart to inform them about it nor give them any sort of constructive criticism to help them actually improve upon their skills.

It is worth noting that the sympathy vote is often used to lure unwitting content creators into a specific curation community where perhaps the curators of said community may earn some extra circle-jerk votes in the process and thus improve their already over-inflated upvote count.

The Pity Vote:

A vote given out of sheer pity for the content creator which may give them a misguided sense that their content is actually good and thus keep creating content.

Occasionally the pity vote is confused with the sympathy vote but rest assured that the end result is not to recruit the content creator into a specific curation community to broaden its circle-jerking ability but instead it is to encourage the content creator to just keep posting on the platform in general and thus bolster the appearance of legitimate activity on said platform.

The Loyalist Vote:

A vote given out of sheer loyalty to the content creator not necessarily because their content is good or bad (or that anyone even reads it in the first place) because the loyalty towards them is so strong that it utterly demands that voting be done.

This vote is quite often confused with the circle-jerk vote but usually involves a lot more bootlicking and/or old fashioned ass kissing. Beware of this sort of vote because it can lead to a deep sense of frustration when not reciprocated or upgraded to a proper circle-jerk vote.

The Profit Vote:

A vote that is made with sheer profit in mind and usually cast upon a post that is already profitable to one degree or another. This type of vote does not discriminate and just follows the money.

Perhaps worth noting here is that all votes are in one way or another profit votes but in this context it is often prized even higher than the almighty circle-jerk vote.

The Auto Vote:

A vote that is cast by a script or website that automatically votes on the content of predefined user names and/or specific tags.

This kind of vote is often used in conjunction with multiple accounts to automate the circle-jerking process and bolster vote counts in such a way that curation communities look attractive.

The Authentic Vote:

A vote given with no ulterior motives to quality content creators for putting in long hours to get marginal returns compared to their time and effort.

This kind of vote is the holy grail of votes but often it is cast by those who lack any vote value and often deemed not worth the effort of curators to make a single click of their mouse on and thus give any actual value to a post because the content creator refuses to engage in being a proper loyalist or circle-jerker.

Thanks for reading!