knowing that you read my Rambles, you've likely seen my rants about what gets my votes. Let's see if I can sum it up a bit..
A piece of writing, I want it to engage me from the first sentence to the last.
A photo or sketch, I want the artist to write to me about why that piece has value and how it speaks to the artist.
A video, tell me what matters about the video if I'm going to take my time to watch it.
A comic, should present the message on its own, so I don't expect commentary attached.
Oh, and those links to outside articles, write some commentary about your view on the link that includes a brief summary of the content. If you don't want to bother, then, well thanks for the link but a vote, not happening.
I do upvote my own posts after the 30 minute mark usually and usually not more than what I upvote other people's posts by.