Well, I’ve not invested monetarily into Steemit, but I’ve done as much content creation and curation as I can. I see the time that I spend contributing to and supporting the community as an investment. So maybe I’m both investor and creator?
I haven’t self upvoted because from the time I began here I’ve seen quite a few posts about it, and the majority of them shine a negative light on it. I read some that are almost apologetic or defensive explainations as to why the author has self upvoted. So I guess I haven’t done it for fear of being shamed.
@powellx5, you are definitely a great contributor to Steemit. It has been nice to get to know you on our platform and in our community.
I agree that as content creators we also are investors of time and effort. I wish I would have made that distinction better in the original post.
In regards to self-voting you have to find a place that you are comfortable operating from. But I agree that pressure from outside forces can have an impact on what we do (and that is not always a bad thing).