Great advice that I hope some newbies will see.
I regard flagging as a useful curation tool. Some posts and comments are obvious promoted way beyond their real value and this can be adjusted with flags as the designers of Steem intended. Unfortunately there are big accounts who use fear to deter this. That's why I pick my battles carefully.
I stopped self voting since time ago so I can curate others more effectively. I get enough support from the community. Self voting would not actually gain me much anyway.