Thanks Ilana!

People - I can vouch that replying to posts can be a pretty good tool to get nice upvotes, if it's a thoughtful comment and a writer that likes to interact with the readers, and it can help you get the attention of the strong big dolphins/whales you comment to - they might just follow you and their attention is a huge boost for your posts. a vote from them is not only having a value, it also makes people notice you - who is it? why does this whale upvoting him?
good luck!