I powered up a couple of days ago. At the time I didn't know why I was doing it, really, but I took a couple of ETH, purchased STEEM and powered up.
Recent image of me Source
I did it, i guess, because I am fairly new minnow here and I was sick of my upvote counting for a cent or two.
I wouldn't care usually - we all give away facebook and instagram likes for free, so why is this an issue?
I wanted my vote to give a bigger reward because I'm a discerning voter and when I upvote something it's because I feel it shows talent or enhances the experience of the Steemit community.
Now that I've powered up my vote counts for 11 cents. That 11 cents is donated to a worthy cause every time I click that little up arrow.
Source
I get it now.
I am addicted.
I want to have a bigger impact and I want my discerning vote to reward more great content creators.
And powering up locks away that STEEM, creating more stability for the platform.
I'll probably power up more soon.
It felt good.