Worth noting the shift from 0.4% to 7% self voting (yes, I'm somewhat guilty) is compounded by the hard fork which reduced the effective daily votes from 40 to 10. I know you can do part votes but without outside help that's only for people with 500SP or above - something nearly a year on I still haven't managed.
While I'm a developer myself (not on steemit) I do agree though, I try to reward content, causes and anything which shows initiative - I try not to support anything which stands as an entity in it's own right. Perhaps being British I'm one for supporting the underdog, I want the aspiring to succeed far more than I want the successful to grow.
Yes, the vote power rate is a key ingredient too.