But I will say this again, if your small upvote can become a ray of hope for someone (writer) and encourage them

That's how I feel. I'm not trying to game the system, I want genuine feedback. Me upvoting myself a million times is meaningless compared to a single person who actually read and liked my post. So a simple acknowledgement of your existence and some nice words can go a long way. Besides, astroturfing(?) your numbers stops you from growing organically. You have to keep doing it or that house of cards just collapses into itself.