"Upvote on to others as you wish that they would upvote on to you." -QuantumAnomaly
Seeing so many posts about the work, and luck, that it takes to build the value in a post, and the seemingly random nature of "striking it big", I started to notice a bit of a trend: No one thinks a penny is worth someone's thoughts.
If you ask a question, and someone answers it, upvote the reply! If you had a conversation with someone face to face, would you not be willing to pay them a single cent for good advice or a funny joke? One penny that you would pass gathering from the street is not worth five minutes of someone's time?
It's more than just paying them too, it's literally "putting your money where your mouth is". Don't just say thanks for the comment, upvote it. This shows that you actually appreciate it, and that you are willing to put forth your steem power to prove it. It also builds appreciation, trust, and respect for all those that are part of the conversation. It builds loyalty, interest, and proves that you're not just here to be stingy, but that you are here to be a beneficial part of the community. Doing so could net you followers, people who are willing to seek out your posts when you make them, people who you may be more willing to upvote as well.
Networking will make you successful, and showing that you are accountable for your words and not just replying to everyone on your post to boost your active or trending score is how you prove it. So please, show your support when you engage in a conversation!
You don't have to upvote every comment, no one wants to waste their voting power. But if you are sitting above 90% voting power and you are in a long conversation with someone, upvote the first comment they made to both boost it in the trending comments filter, and to show that you appreciate the conversation.