I don't even know if it makes that much of a difference on Lemmy. On Reddit, posts with many likes got pushed, but here... I don't know. You don't really collect likes here.
I have no clue. I get shown "trending communities" with zero posts. "Hot" might also be by engagement? Like how many clicks the posts have? Literally no clue
It’s very valid to not always be up for it. I appreciate when people like my posts/comments but I understand that most people won’t, and I go through waves too. I tend to spread the happiness when I’m doing well, but if I’m not doing well I only have it in me to scroll. I can’t explain why spending the time to upvote feels like work when things are hard, but it does. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not upvoting, but it is nice to do when you are able.
It's one thing to feel appreciated when someone likes your comment, post, or generally the content you created, driving you forwards to continue making content for others to enjoy.
It's another thing to get kicks out of poor content that drives you to copy-paste more poor content.
But then again - what is poor? What is quality? Outside a well-thought argument in a comment, somebody might enjoy a s***post picture and giving it value as it made their day a bit better while somebody else doesn't.