I'm a big fan of manual voting, but then I'm reading posts all the time. I do follow a trail from an account I control, but that only gives 10% votes. I can give over a dollar, so I try to make it count. I won't give much to posts that already have good rewards and I don't worry about my curation rewards. I do okay anyway. I do benefit from auto votes, but I want people to actually read my posts and engage.
Engagement is vital. New people may stick around even if they don't make much if it's a fun experience.
I do think there should be options for all kinds of user, including those who just want the income, but Hive needs to be seen to encourage quality content if it is to succeed.
They're also less likely to spam. If you've made friends, you'll be more likely to want to post something interesting to share!