“I want to vote on the comments on my posts, but I would have absolutely no voting power left. I voted it all the way down (once) already. Should I worry about my voting power or just go ahead and vote them?” -- @broncofan99

When you reach 1,000 SP on Scorum, which is becoming increasingly harder to accomplish, you earn the title "Pro," and more importantly, you obtain a voting slider. The voting slider allows you to upvote posts and comments from 1-100%. Since voting power is very limited (it takes 5 days to recharge from 0% and 1 vote takes away roughly 5% of your power), the slider allows a Pro user to support dozens more posts and comments than a non-pro would be able to.

A month ago I received the great question above from @broncofan99. @Swolesome and I recently covered this topic on the third episode of the Scorum Community Podcast. Listen below to hear the section of the show where we discuss this question and our thoughts on managing your voting power as a rookie.

"I tell users, it's a race to a 1,000 -- the quicker to 1,000 the better," says @swolesome, who bought his way to Pro status. It's true that you want to become a Scorum Pro as soon as possible to gain your voting slider, but what if you're not there yet?

Should You Vote on Comments Before Becoming a Pro?

Voting on other people's posts and comments is vital to your success here on Scorum. I owe my success to the support of others, and I try my hardest to reward great content creators on Scorum and those who support and engage with me by upvoting other users' posts and good comments on all of my posts. But as a rookie, I don't think you can afford to upvote comments on your posts except for rare occasions.

If you've worked very hard on a long, detailed piece and it's obvious someone took a long time to read and compose a well-written response, feel free to throw them that vote, just know that it means your voting power will decrease and you won't be able to vote on as many articles.

As a Pro, I try to vote every single good comment I receive on a post, which I can do beause I have the slider.

Instead of voting on comments as a rookie, I recommend spending your votes on great articles where the writers read, comment on, and upvote comments on their posts. This way you can gain new followers, earn upvotes on your comments to get to 1,000 SP quicker, and maximize the impact of each of your votes.

Before reaching the Pro level, and even after, I had a hard time staying above 50% SP. I would recommend trying to stay at 50% or higher. This is not being stingy, it's being smart. You have a tough job to do balancing your voting power with spreading your votes around to help others and show your love to great content.

Check out the full episode post and notes here!

Do you have tips for how users who haven't yet gone "Pro" can manage their voting power? If so, comment below. Have any questions? Ask below!