Introduction

DON’T UPVOTE A POST IF YOUR UPVOTE VALUE IS LESSER THAN $0.02

 

I will explain this part as you read.

----------------------------------------------******--------------------------------------------------

Upvotes

Every Steemian, especially the newcomers, like to upvote comments and articles simply because it is our way of showing appreciation as much as a commitment to help authors earn. With the concept of curation rewards, the upvoting works both ways. That is, the upvoter earns some amount of upvote value. So both, the author and the upvoter, benefit. 

However, not all upvotes work or help the author and the upvoter. 

Is it so? Which ones?

The ones called Dust Votes

 

Dust Vote is a concept even I learned too late in the Steem world. It simply says that vote values below a certain level do not constitute as votes. Meaning if the value of the vote is below 0.02 Steem (considering the value of Steem) then such votes are lost in the system. In other words, such small votes do not accrue to the author or the upvoter. 

But it does work in one scenario. 

Which scenario is that you ask. 

Well, when you upvote a comment or article which has upvotes over 0.02 Steem, OR your vote takes the combined value above 0.02, then it is fine. Let’s take an example to understand this. 

If your upvote value is 0.005 and you intend to upvote a certain comment with no other upvotes, then obviously this is lost as “dust”.

However, if you see a post which already has 0.015 value of upvote and you upvote further, then the total value of upvote becomes = 0.015 + 0.005 = 0.02 Steem. So, this works. Basically, any permutation or combination adding the upvote value above USD 0.02 is fine. 

Taking the above point further, this also means that upvotes with lesser vote value can work on articles than comments. Why? Because chances are that an article may get more upvotes than a comment. In doing so, the dust value of upvote gets converted to realizable upvote. Hope you get it.

----------------------------------------------******--------------------------------------------------

So, what next?

So, I would request whoever is reading this article to understand the concept of dust vote and do not waste your vote upvoting something if it is lesser than USD 0.02. OR take the services of accounts like @dustsweeper to convert your dust votes into realizable vote. 

What does @dustsweeper do? Well, go to their blog page and learn more.

----------------------------------------------******--------------------------------------------------

Parting Words 

If you really care for the author to earn from your upvote then do not waste in upvoting a comment with value lesser than 0.02 because it helps no one. Upvoting an article still works, because chances are that more people will come by and upvote as well. So, save your upvote value and upvote responsibly, and more importantly, realisably! (that’s a word I invented. 😊 )