Okay, I'll bite :D
The real issue is that a lot of the time, we don't have a much information to base our decision on.
Witnesses might be doing great work behind the scenes, but unless they publicise it (and a lot of the best people feel that self-promotion is immoral), we don't know to vote for them.
I have a suspicion (admittedly without evidence) that a lot of the top 20 witnesses hold onto their positions due to what I think of as "zombie" votes - people who voted, but have gone inactive and the vote just sticks around foerever.
I'll also hold my hand up to voting for my own self-interest. I prefer to vote for witnesses who support a 20% APR for HBD. This is a complex one because if a witness is supporting a lower interest rate but really working hard for Hive in other ways, I'll vote for them. It's a balance, not a black & white thing. To my mind, the DHF gives out far too many HBD in proposals, and a 20% interest rate is a way to balance it out with a better return for Hivers who create content, curate and all the other "small people" things that keep the ecosystem alive. The one thing I hate is someone who is getting big proposal payouts from the DHF but wants a lower interest rate to inflict less returns on ordinary users.
Every so often I'll get a nominal amount of HIVE or HBD from someone asking for votes. Although it might come across as slightly tacky, I recognise the effort they've gone to. It gets me to look at their profile when I might not have. But whether I vote for them is entirely determined by what they do for Hive and if I think they deserve it.
What I'd love to see is for a link from PeakD and other "witness voting stations" for each witness to what is effectively their manifesto. Why do they dupport the APR they do ? What do they do for Hive as a whole ? What skills and competencies do they bring to the table ?
This last one is important for me; I believe that we've got too many witnesses who are developers, and not enough with a business, marketing or finance background.
Sorry - I wrote a post as a reply :D
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