Hey, my bro!

First off, let me say that your life blog is pretty much my favourite on Steemit. Keep up the great work, man.

But yeah, your post raises some really interesting issues. I mean, there's such a fine line between "supporting someone" and "circle jerking", right? Because content itself is so subjective. What someone may view as a work of art, you may see as a piece of crap! That's life! What you alone hold is the power of deciding whether to upvote or not and if so, how much to pay out.

Throw friends into the mix and things become even more complicated. The issue of "favouritism" rears it's ugly head. The confusion over why you haven't upvoted them to the fullest extent of your steempower? The feelings of betrayal afterwards! "How can you introduce me to this great platform and then leave me to fend for myself. How's that fair?" mentality. It's one of the easiest ways to put a strain on the best of friendships.

But the bottom line is we joined at the start and worked our asses off to get where we are. Months or weeks of getting paid nothing but a few cents. Where was our "favouritism" when we needed it? Why didn't someone support us when we felt like shit after getting bad payouts on a regular basis?

As I'm sure you'll agree, you had to have been there to fully understand the "grind", lol! But I think your morality and code of conduct speaks volumes about you as a person. And I highly commend you for that, @exyle. You are the singular and final judge when it comes to evaluating content and choosing how to reward it.

THAT is how this platform was always intended to be used.

Awesome post, my bro. Keeping pushing and always strive to reach higher.

Bless! (p.s. best of luck in regards to the purchase of your new "Green Egg!" :)