Wow, thanks a lot for the support! I have to admit that I was hoping somehow that someone will notice me, but I didn't stick to it. There are people who need support more than I. If I wrote an article every day and it was just gaming; I'd be doing better. But I have my own life, now I have exams, so I don't have much time for Steemit (since February it should change, I plan to create a smaller community and competition :) ).
Against upvoting posts of their own, I don't have anything at all, I do it myself, but when it comes to a whale whose upvote has enormous value, it looks a little awkward. I think they would earn almost the same amount of money if they only supported others because if one looks at their curation rewards, they can make a lot just by curation. Their curation rewards are similar to the payout of our good posts. Also, a lot of sheep, which are hoping to get noticed, is following them so they would earn quite a bit even without upvoting their posts.
It annoys me a long time, but I was afraid to express myself more publicly because their flag could destroy all my efforts.
When I think about it, it would be great if every whale/dolphin had some mentoring or just picked one minnow (always one at a time to avoid being abused) that is a benefit to Steemit and helped him grow up to a point where he would stand on his own feet (he had enough people to read and support him, so he wouldn't need a mentor anymore). High-quality authors would be more motivated, and spammers, shitpost creators, etc. would have no chance. I think it would help the whole community. But it's just an idea.
And I know that there are also good people, but in trending, man faces mainly the rest because a huge payout attracts attention.
So once again thanks a lot for what you do :)