Hi there Mah Task!
Miss you ... so, I've done a short "study" on my own.
I have gone into many groups and left many as well. I have found that groups or IMO "hive minded" just upvote each other and many times not exactly the same interest, but support each other. We see The Alliance, SSG, The Steem Engine, Steemitbloggers, and they seem to work within themselves with some stating they are not getting the upvotes they are putting out .
I also see groups such as Curie also giving big upvotes to those they feel are "of quality," and many times the same people. As some have told me guilty of being lazy and just go for whom they feel is a "safe bet."
The study of mine included leaving the groups and seeing if the people would stay connected to me based on "interest." The answer is no, they did not continue being my "friend."
I've gone back to some groups only to find people have an attitude as if I caused them injury.
This is me just testing the waters of Steemit, and not really playing into the "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," I only upvote matter that I find raw, original, and real.
I'm not sure that I would want to just be grouped in with people someone else felt that I should be socializing with. For instance, FB the only way my 5k friends ever popped up in my feed is if they or I interacted with one another and manyyyyy of my other friends were ignored and would ask why they never saw me again ... I would hate for this to happen on Steemit.
Hugs,
Eagle