Is Kittie Eubank the only other person who will admit this?
I upvote answers because they are written by my friend on Quora and I know they’re an expert in their field, so even if I don’t personally have enough knowledge to know it’s a good answer, I trust my friend.
I’ll be even more craven:
If you’re my friend here, I’m generous with upvotes. I will upvote you by default, as acknowledgement that I’ve read your answer and liked it. I can withhold upvotes, if (a) the answer is way outside my areas of interest, and I don’t really want to see more, or (b) the answer is not up to the standards I expect.
If you’re not my friend, I’m moderate with upvotes. I will upvote if it is a good answer. I will admit that I will be likelier to upvote if I agree, but I won’t upvote if I agree and the answer is lazy, and I may upvote if I disagree but the answer is well-argued.
If I keep liking what you have to say, of course, I will end up moving you into the friend column.