So I’ve just realized that @buildawhale exists. What I find attractive about the project is that one has to pay at least 3SBD, which is quite a lot of money with current market value and the upvote is not guaranteed. This should incentivize people to only submit posts that they believe are exceptional, otherwise they lose the money. I tried to apply for the first time so and I’m looking forward to see whether what i deem as one of my better creations pass your "quality test":D.

Could you please clarify what exactly does the amount of SBD sent influence? I guess that the strength of the upvote, but is there any correlation that could be shared with me?

I lack an easy access to detailed information about the project, you could try to improve that. Since i believe @themarkymark who has earned one of my latest witness votes I tried it anyway though:P