Thank you for this.  I recently noticed one of the more popular users doing this self upvoting, masturbatory, circle jerk on their own posts.  Upvoting their own post, then making one of the first comments on the post (links to their other posts, not responding to anyone), then upvoted that comment.  On top of that, I've never seen them actually upvote or resteem anyone else's stuff.  It was shocking to me to see someone who is consistently pulling $100+ per post, behaving like this and being rewarded for it by their followers.  Granted they are posting some really good content.  But for me, after noticing that behavior, I don't care how great the content is.  I unfollowed them, and I'll probably never actually even look at any of their posts again after this.  I'll save my comments, upvotes, and resteems for those who aren't gaming the system like that.  Personally, I don't want to support that type of behavior here bc in my mind it's kind of short sighted.  Growing the platform means spreading the rewards out across the platform.  When top earners are hoarding all the rewards to themselves, it's going to have a negative impact on other users, potentially discouraging other people and driving them away from the platform.  More users over time equals more followers for everyone, which equals more money in the long run for everyone.  It's about the health of the community and growing the platform so that we all benefit.  At least that's how I see it.  Followed and resteemed.  And thank you from a newbie minnow for raising awareness about this type of thing going on.  It's nice to see influential people actually speaking out about it.