I think the intended intent behind an upvote on these news aggregation sites is that the actor oneself "gives a shit" about the article -- rather than "wants ot

I think the intended intent behind an upvote on these news aggregation sites is that the actor oneself "gives a shit" about the article -- rather than "wants others to 'give a shit'" about the article. Of course, in practice, it's the latter, especially for one's own submissions.