RE: Was that make-up tutorial really worth thousands of dollars?
For minnows like us, whale chasing shouldn't even be a thing because whales will simply blow your curation rewards out of the water - even if they vote after you. The only money I've ever made from curating is on very low-earning posts with no whales anywhere around. But the make-up tutorial post was a whale-chasing case in point. It was upvoted by whales, legitimate whale-chasers, and a bunch of minnows who didn't realize that whale-chasing does them no good. For those who upvoted, the value of the post existed simply in its curation reward potential. For others, value might have existed in the content, but there are probably not enough people who valuing content to catalyze a payout of that size. The point of the article is that content isn't where the value is. Nor is labor and time and effort. Nor is the presence of whales. It's whichever of those things (or others we haven't identified) the upvoter perceives as valuable to them - period. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nice answer! I expected you had thought that part through, too. It's been perplexing to me, as I've slowly learned more about Steemit, why there will suddenly be a huge reward to a make-up tutorial or smoothie recipe and then suddenly there's a flood of that topic all trending. On speculation?
I find your observation about the upvoter's values as the only value intriguing. I have a similar idea about fan theories and why they are increasingly being engaged in as a creative medium without requiring the blessing of the author. We live in such creative times! Thank you for your thoughtful response!