Those bots. I noticed many shut off their auto votes coming my way. That's another thing that made me feel like I've done something wrong. Many tell me the bot makes it easy to see who posted and they come to eventually look. I think that's why my views eventually start going up but the votes stay the same. With so much art, I need the views, ya know! For the most part, that's what makes the post unique every time. We've all seen the picture of the frustrated woman from pixabay or the cat and everyone has an opinion so the words are often predictable. People seeing my stuff is just as important as the rewards and everything else, but I know everyone is busy and I've at least learned today there's no reason to take it personally.
I'll go look for a spoon now and test your theory. Thanks for the advice!