So, I think "votes" are bad and "subscriptions" are much better.

Ah, forgot to comment that this reminds of "free listening" and "pull" mantras we had some years ago on SSB. And I agree, subscriptions are awesome.

But complimentary to that, I think TrustNet by @cblgh is (or is going to be) a game changer, because it reduces how much input you need from each person. In a free listening world, you have to choose all your subscriptions, but most people don't put in all the work, and if they do, they often were influenced by other folks. TrustNet automates all of this.