Great post... I'm not surprised by the numbers at all.
However, does that mean only only 7.5% of all users here care how the platform gets powered, or have bothered to take the time to learn about it?
Probably yes... and that's not the fault of the users really.
If you came over from Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit, generally a user is just that... someone who uses a system. Users are never in charge of finding out how things work in the backend, nor voting for how the system is run.
So if we're going to up that 7.5% number, we have a lot of work to do..
There could also be a benefit (maybe a penalty) for not voting a witness. Maybe your earned reward is less by 2% if you don't vote for a witness, which goes to a collaborative marketing fund.
Or, you gain an extra 2% in rewards, for voting for a witness.
Instead of a moral or social reason to vote for a witness... if there are monetary advantages or disadvantages, we could expect that 7.5% to grow to at least double that, maybe even triple that (which would be really good for the system).
Interesting idea. I'm cautious about using extrinsic motivators such as financial rewards. Hopefully we can take the education route instead and people will be intrinsically motivated to vote. Also, if financial rewards are involved we might see more vote buying which probably isn't the best way to determine who the best witnesses are.
I agree, it takes work to figure out who to vote for. But it's also a good thing to do to protect your account and investment.