Don't take my word for it... I pulled those numbers out of thin air. I don't actually know if there are cut-off levels.. it's more of a subjective thing I guess. 

But yes, this platform nowadays seems to require you to put in some money in order to upvote your posts so they get high enough so they are seen. i think if you joined last year there was still a lot of natural growth possible, but nowadays you basically need a pre-existing following base in order to get from nothing to whale. Jerry banfield is one of the few examples who only joined recently but now is one of the biggest whales. 

As for us smaller people, I am sort of seeking the real ones out.. maybe we can start our own little circles. That's how the whales operate anyway, voting on eachother. I'm already following you, for that purpose. Figure you can use my ~(tiny, but growing) upvote much better than some mega whale who doesn't even notice it! And I even get some interaction in return, that's fun too!  :)