After all of these tricks started to become clear, I made a conscious decision that I would only vote on content that either -
(a) is rich in the human, personal touch (which still leaves a lot of content on here to choose from)
(b) I either know the creator, or know of them via interactions on this platform or via rocket.chat
(c) other user's, whose due diligence is up to par, can vouch for their integrity
(d) they are trying to create original, quality content, and are putting the work in themselves, not totally outsourcing and reaping the SP and rep rewards under their names,
Sure, there's a rep system here. But, at present I don't think it's truly indicative of a user's real reputation, all things considered.
However, I am hopeful of positive changes ironing out these "teething problems" due to the fact that many users here demonstrate integrity and regularly offer valuable contributions.