I see. I was simply mentioning his bots to illustrate his commitment to improving the experience on Steemit for minnows/plankton. I certainly didn't mean that his bots were the reason to vote for him. And I didn't say that by voting for his witness you would receive votes. In fact, nobody should have thought that.. at least I hope not. That's not how he decides who goes on the "blessed list" lol. It's all about content and engagement.
And yes, it's a personal initiative, but also one that should be recognized as the good deed that it is. Sure, he earns curation rewards for the votes he gives out. But he'd be making a lot more by upvoting his own content. So yes.. it's a personal (and charitable) venture. But again, it illustrates the type of person he is. And that's one who cares about the user experience here on Steemit.
And THAT should be taken into consideration when deciding a witness. Not whether or not you're on his "blessed list", I hope that makes sense.
Well, to each his own! I consider "self-voting" to decide against voting a witness but the opposite is just a normal way to function here. So I don't think it should be looked as a criteria for voting a witness. But everyone has his own criteria to evaluate ...nothing wrong with it!