It's tipping that actually works

How do you propose they would go about doing this? If sending SBD  for promotion was just added to the payout, everyone would just pay themselves as much as they could to promote their posts, getting almost all of it back. 

Maybe I misunderstood your comment,  but no brainers on this type of platform are usually trickier than we might expect.

Cool gif by the way.

Edit- Nvm, just read your discussion with dan below.

This idea has a huge hole in that a whale can then promote themselves at no cost. Minnows could vote like whales, but their boosted votes won't ever increase the visibility of the post. You might as well transfer to the author to tip them at that point.

Burning Steem Dollars guarantees there is a cost, which is key to preventing abuse.

Problem here @stellabelle is the minnows do not have SBD ... hence they are minnows. Unless I am missing something...which is not to unlikely :)