Some good information on this very much overlooked subject, it took me a long time to start voting Witness's and I still did not realise what it was all about then either. Slowly I have learned more, but you have to hunt for the information and really it should be easy access - so everyone know's why they should vote for a witness. As a community vote, the top 19 with the most votes from Steemit accounts (us) get access to the block rounds and earn 1 Steem per block they resolve - it can therefore be very lucrative to get into the top 19 slot and access to regular block -resolving. This also explains the mentality of encouraging voting for inactive witness's - they won't be resolving blocks which leaves more for those at the top! The general rule though is we should each be voting for 30 Witness's - and we should choose to vote for the accounts we find engaging, post regularly and contribute to the community - the work they are doing is very important and the equipment required to run a witness server is very expensive to buy or rent - which is why some may drop out after a while and become inactive.
#thealliance
So much this.
And this.
A witness is far more likely to get my vote because they are involved with the community and are approachable. I know many of them are really busy, but there's no reason every single Witness can't take a few minutes or an hour out of any given week to update the community on their projects, answer questions and concerns, etc. Sure, it's not a requirement, nor should it be. They're just far more likely to get and keep my vote because of it.