Yeah, it seems odd to me that @dantheman would be telling "minnows" to not worry about upvoting posts - to let whales and their bots do that. To me, that's the entire problem with the platform. Whales have far too much influence on both payouts and creating trending posts and topics.
The other thing that I always find interesting is what is meant by "quality content." To Dan and other site creators, developers, and operators, "quality content" essentially refers to SEO. To original content creators and writers, "quality" has an entirely different meaning. If the purpose of this site and the whales/whale bots is to seek out and curate the former, then this site is apparently not for the latter. It's strange to me that seeking photos and "link spam" is somehow seen as adding value to the platform. If that's what will ultimately attract whales and their bots, then it will be a race to the bottom when most users finally figure out the process. I've seen this exact type of algorithm play out on two similar sites that I was a part of in the past. Neither exist today. I'd rather not see it happen a third time because whales want bigger curating rewards.
Although, I suppose I could then write a post titled, "How to Moby Dick the SteemIt Ship," plaster it with photos and links, snag a bunch of whale bots, make a quick $20,000 and cash out.