It's important to point out here that witnesses do a lot more for Steem and the Steem eco-system than provide upvotes as typical users do

Yeah we quite do and I must say , the platform would be in a state of dilemma without them. For those who do not know , kindly check the #whitepaper .
Well self upvoting isn’t and shouldn’t be a condemnation and as long as it’s not then you’re good my friend. Smiles, I do it too so you’re not alone