I finally took the plunge and voted for a few witnesses. I've never voted on anything ever so it's kind of a big deal. Steem witnesses are basically the politicians of Steemit. They're running the whole network and can make huge decisions on how to modify the blockchain.
No hardfork will take effect until at least 67% of the active witnesses have upgraded to the latest update.
You can make up to 30 votes but I've only made 4 so far:
When you make a witness vote you should really know why you're voting for that person.
I have personally had interactions with three out of four of these witnesses. They are good people doing hard work for Steem. When the value of the blockchain goes up, witnesses are often responsible, either directly or otherwise.
Unlike traditional politicians, Steem witnesses directly benefit when the blockchain is doing well and have a lot to lose if it fails. Corruption is not in their best interest, which is usually not the case for traditional bottom feeding politicians. In addition, a lot of the witnesses are developers. I can tell you first hand that developers and scientists tend to be statistically less greedy than the average person. In addition, a witness can be, "voted out of office," immediately. These dynamics bode very well for the future of the blockchain.
Vote wisely.