I am very intrigued by this. I'm a newbie and trying to get the hang of this. I'm discouraged because I have put out a couple articles that I feel have really good content and just found out they are only good for 7 days.
I've learned to slow my roll with the voting and try to keep my power above 90%. I was like an eight-armed octopus with my voting when I showed up. Assuming upvotes were the same as "likes" on other forums.
Well, your content lasts forever, but payments end after 7 days. It can be disheartening and frustrating when your brilliant work gets little reward (especially when you see some folks earning tons for doing very little) but please do stick with it, and you will see the rewards start to come!