If it comes to upvoting do you "always" upvote the same Steemians? I know I frequently do because this is the circle I built after years and I consider them good and creative.
I noticed recently if I do so my CSI drops and ends up... 0 or [?]

At first I thought I forgot but I note everything I do in my agenda so I tried it again.

The only way to keep CSI high is if you always upvote someone else! So... We are tricked but also forced to upvote what we do not like if we cannot spend 8 hours to search for content we like. If you do like the writer? Most likely they become your friend and are added to your circle... Next that loop starts again 🥴

So what to do? The dirty trick and vote 40 different people with 50 percent or for two days? It's the only way to push your CSI high To do it faster you can also upvote till 70% or more (70% was what we did as Steemit started).

They say >5 CSI is enough but there are higher ranked, administrators, Steemit top who *never" upvote or the same 20 people. Is their CSI >5? No. 3 at most.

If it comes to payments... Any idea how much I wrote? How many years I earned nothing? I wrote thousands of entries!
Have a look at my hive Tales & Stories @hive-169911. I am the same person. I give, donate, I bought Steem and look at the earnings of those posts! If I would pist them with this account I would earn more. It is not the community but the account that is disliked.

I advice you to join contests where you get paid. There are plenty. Be smart and write what you like and make it fit into the contest! That is what creativity is about.
You can join @freewritehouse too. No fuss just daily writing with a prompt for 10 minutes. I find it relaxing and sponsor the prizes.

boylikegirl.club is a good one as well. A weekly contest the first 15 earn. They upvote also comments in this contest, they give free uvf. They also have a daily lottery. All you have to do is upvote the latest one.

@italy is a great community. Two comment contests, the have about three or 4 more and if you are downvoted they correct it. They reward the ones with the best comments, the one who is most active and have more in common with social media. It's only preferable you translate the text into Italian.

❤️