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I believe that has to do with curation rewards. Bots and users will follow a high SP account, and when it posts something they'll upvote it right away because it's likely to trend because high-earning posts trend, and if you curate a trending post before it trends you get a better payout.

Users also like upvotes that can earn them more $$$
Stack that cash and users will follow

Well yeah, it literally means you are more important.

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