Why powering up is important here!Why powering up is important here!

Steem Power is the vote value (draw in vests on the pool). So to increase the value of a vote requires increasing Steem Power. This happens when earing but, to speed it along it is possible to use the liquid value earned to increase the Steem power. Of course, if you buy Steem and power it up, it will happen much much faster.

This means that not only you will be able to reward other content producers, you can earn more via curation. It will also mean in the future that there will be SMT airdrops that will likely tie the amounts to Steem Power etc. Steem Power is your hall pass to many aspects of the platform and without it, you are always at the mercy of others with very limited influence.

The white paper and other articles explain it with much more depth than that but, it is something everyone should learn about as it is a core part of the platform.