I agree that the spread has been pushed into a more "focused" vote, trying to get those golden 10 in on the posts that voters feel will make the most "reward".
This has resulted in a lot more "bot-voting" and "vote-by-proxy" which is great for people with established audiences and good content but horrible for undiscovered talent because people aren't reading and curating, they're following curation "trains".
It's a give and take
If you're after the curation reward you should curate for ROI. If, however, you're here to see the community grow and to see new talent flourish, you should read a whole lot more and curate for value.
That's my two cents...
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