There's no perfect solution, but I think the idea merits exploration.

We're all about "freedom" and "no censorship." Fine. So let people do as they want with their paid upvotes. But if you DO pay to upvote your content... that ADVERTISING. That's increasing your visibility... entirely your right! But now your content just became reclassified as "Promoted Content" and will go into the feed accordingly. Just like it would if you paid for visibility on Google, Facebook, twitter or anywhere else.

"But people won't look at my post if it's promoted!"

Well, tough titties. The create some content that will stand on its own merit, OR be socially interactive enough that people visit your content.

I guess I am just anti- gimmicks and manipulation... and since one of the primary "selling points" of the entire blockchain industry is "transparency" I'll be damned if I'm going to support systems based on deception, exploitation and manipulation.