I believe upvotes should be used for posts where the individual actually put in some effort to create the post. I would upvote splash pages that the individual actually created.
I use my downvotes for bad links that show up repeatedly. If they didn't care enough to test their email, why would I reward them? If I ever see, which I haven't, offensive material, I would downvote it.
Where I have am indecisive is
- Generic splash pages - I don't vote. If this is a mailer, people should be able to mail splash pages but not be rewarded.
- Sending the same emails over and over - one subscriber, in particular, has very detailed posts about games. They send people to these same posts over and over again. I rewarded them initially but have started downvoting.
This is how I have been using my votes now. I did go through a period of all upvotes because I read in a post that I would get more ListNerd tokens. Eventually, I just couldn't do that anymore.
I had a couple of mails early this month were the image and links were all broken, it got dv'd like crazy. And I appreciated it! It got my butt in gear to make sure it never happened again! And yes, I do test my emails now. :-)
Yeah it's important to keep things fresh. I myself have been having a hard time keeping my content new...A downvote actually tells me I need to step up my game.