This is great, and while I still have some unassigned witness votes I would have liked to see this much earlier in my Steem journey! I didn't vote any for months, and did not proxy because I don't like the thought of giving away my precious vote.

You answered a question I didn't know I had, about full nodes. I had just assumed those were for signing blocks and I never thought about how apps run. Considering speed and stability of apps is my second-biggest concern about Steem (it's ok, but could be better), I can add full nodes to the list of things I might look for in a witness. Since full nodes aren't directly part of witnessing, can non-witnesses run them? Does doing so carry its own rewards? Should it?

It's daunting, voting for a witness when you don't know what they do, so I appreciate this guide and think it would make a good addition to a Steem 101 course for new users.

You only touched briefly on the role of witnesses in community support and governance, which I see as the #1 attribute beyond the technical requirements. Do witnesses need to govern a decentralized community? Not really, but you have a lot of power and with great power comes great responsibility.

I read your piece on governance and was struck by the idea that in our current system, money is created out of thin air by an elite few at the expense of everyone else. We haven't exactly left that behind with Steem, at least not yet. Since one can buy more Steem power directly with fiat currency, they are linked.

Upvoting, if directed mostly at oneself, sure seems like creating money from thin air. Of all the facets of the Steem economy, I am most fascinated by the unfolding process of how the community establishes shared morals and expected behavior (every society has them!) Witnesses, because of their power, must play an important role in this.