I'm in total agreement - I'm still new here, but buying votes, and people thinking you're obligated to upvote them, isn't what Steemit is supposed to be about.
I'll side with old-guy-photos on this one. If it takes me longer, so be it, but at least I'm being true to myself and my own sense of fairness and ethics.
I does cause all kinds of issues. It is never an easy thing to figure out how value from cryptocurrency should be distributed.
Indeed.
Like you, I am here because I love to write, share my photography, my poetry and my art, and as a privacy advocate, I sincerely appreciate that Steemit isn't datamining me for that privilege.
I'm just in one-foot-in-front-of-the-other mode. Most days I post twice, often more and occasionally only once, but I figure consistency is key, and posting real content with which people will hopefully want to engage.
Since I've been taking it seriously, my reputation and followers are steadily increasing, so I think I'm finally on the right track. ;-)