Bidbots. Yay or Nay?
Love them or hate them, they're a presence on Steemit that seems to be here to stay.
I have to admit I have frowned upon bidbots in the past - it's the reason I no longer look at the trending section.
When I first joined Steemit the posts on the trending page were either legit awesome, had great friends, or both.
Support on Steemit
My whole stance on bidbots changed a few months ago when my earnings sunk. Life is great on Steemit when you have support, but the moment you lose that support things start sucking.
I'm very fortunate to be a @sndbox fellow for many many reasons.
The boys are incredibly inspiring, the way they continuously set standards on the platform and the projects they come up with. The community is also great and so supportive (although I dont get to spend much time with them) and of course there's that amazing Sndbox rewards system.
Being a Sndbox fellow has definitely shaped me into a better blogger these last few months and I feel in the incubator program I am rewarded for the time and effort I put in to my blogs.
Out in the greater Steemit world that doesn't really happen. I see it time and time again.
My Sndbox days are numbered though and I will graduate with my batchmates in June 2018. Wether I make the cut for alumni I don't know, so I'm trying to prepare for life without the nurturing environment of the incubator.
Lucky for me I belong to other communities that also have support systems in place. In fact we launched @SteemPh.Trail for that purpose - a way to support the #SteemPh community and encourage better content. And I'm sure @SteemPh is not the only group brainstorming ways to support their communities.
Shout Out to my peeps at @SteemPh, @TeamAustralia, @TheAlliance, @SSG-Community, @SteemUSA, @Sndbox ❤
What if one day I lose my support?
I've been on that road and I went through a range of emotions.
First was hurt and confusion
I don't know how I lost it, sure I've had a few crappy posts here and there but I like to think most of my posts have at least 500 words and 3 decent pictures. Community wise I work my ass off. Maybe it's my personality? So queue weeks of self loathing and internal conflict.
Second was resentment
I began resenting those who continued to receive support, these people would often post twice sometimes 3 to 4 times a day, short posts, sometimes just a photo. I just couldn't get my head around it, I still can't. In the end I put it down to "Not my SP, not my problem.", resulting to this self talk "This is why yo ass needs to power up!"
Third and last stage was defiance
I refuse to be a bitter self entitled "victim". I decided I'm not entitled to any support and I should just be grateful I had it when I did. It also made me realize if I wanted to succeed I need to figure out how to support myself.
Hellooo bidbots
I'm beginning to think bidbots may be for the little people. Sure by using it we are making someone out there very wealthy but why should that stop us from seizing the opportunity to support ourselves?
After some thought, and months of resisting the trend, I started my bidbots experiment and here's what I got.
Now... IF I got this right...
You'll see in the ROI column I got my initial SBD investment back (give or take). You'll also see that not only did I get my money back, I also got free Steem Power and that's how I'm looking at it - Free Steem Power!
Pitfalls
I tried conducting this experiment a couple of months ago but didn't take proper notes and I didn't use SteemBotTracker made by the awesome @yabapmatt.
I wondered then if others were also placing bids without knowing how many people have already placed bids and how much.
I saw this as a problem and a possibility of a loss in my investment.
Ultimately
The way I'm thinking, if I continue to invest 10 SBD into bidbots I could get about 5 free SP per post, more if I up my bid.
Currently I try to post 5 times a week. I'd like to be able to post 3 times a week and still be able to power up at a reasonable rate.
See what happened here? I'm taking control of my destiny. At least that's what it feels like 😊
My goal here isn't to land on the trending page but to get a little extra SP boost for every post.
More SP means the more $$ I can drop on people and community projects.
Now, would I abuse the system and self upvote crappy photos with no text? We good! I got that out of my system within my 2nd week on Steemit.
I don't really get why you can't self upvote a post older than 3 days, but the bots let me know when I do that so that's pretty cool.
Everything considered it's a
I like having the option of being able to use their services. They're not what they used to be. Now the bots have blacklists and 3 day post limits, you can see the operators are trying to minimise abuse.
I also like the idea of getting a SP boost on my posts. I reckon that will be a welcomed help on the SP front and I'd love be a dolphin come graduation time. Imagine that!!!
What's your thoughts on bidbots? Yay? Nay? Why? And are my calculations correct?
🌻 Arly
Yes! Steembottracker is a must. But it seems most users get a negative ROI. If you bid on @booster you also have a good chance to get upvoted by @frontrunner and it’s front running “curation trail.”
I'm a realist. I think arbitrage is the #1 way to make money.
IN some ways the pressure to write a lot of words makes Steemit feel a bit more like work for me. I already spent thousands of hours learning the art and music skills I share, and often many tens and even hundreds of hours on painting and photographing the art I share. I know that shorter posts exclude my posts from some manual curators, but I'm going to continue to not use bots.
I hear that about the pressure. I've been feeling it for months and I'm tired. That's why the bots are looking pretty good about now lol
Power to you for resisting the bots ❤
Free SP?
Sounds great!
Personally, I don't have a problem as long as it's not excessive. The people that game the trending tab every time they post just give the bidbots a bad name.
And when you want to use them for a special project announcement, you get swapped by all the dicks abusing the system.
It's sink or swim until there are some firm guidelines around their use. Maybe posts only show up in 'Trending' with less than 50% bidbot upvote value to ensure the community is actually engaged with the posts rather than it appearing like they are.
Thanks for creating an open discussion on this topic.
Yep the bots are bots. It's the users that create the drama. Or we all just don't look at the trending anymore 😊 I look at the Hot posts instead of the new post. My reasoning is peeps on the trending don't need the money.
Although your idea sounds like it could be done with some tech expertise.
Its yay for me too momi... But I admit on my first experiments with bidbots, it was really horrible and messy. And add to that, the experience of being called out by the grumpy pawful cat.
You are one of my role models here. And I just want you to know that I will always look up to you like how I do now, even in the future. Whichever way the future lead us, we are here.
So sorry to hear grumpy got you too. He's been a hypocritical right pain in the arse. My first bidbots tries were messy too and it put me off it for ages.
Aww thank you Patty ❤ I love you and I will always try my best to be worthy of you and the family and you know I am always here for you.
See you at the meeting ❤
I always consider the SP gained and most people overlook that part. Good on ya for noticing!
Haha cheers @enginewitty, I had to do a spreadsheet to find it but glad it worked out! Wish I caught on months ago.
Thank you for your continued support of SteemSilverGold
I see that goal. That's what I'm aiming for too for the bidbots - Yay! I believe the Nay there is that if you invest little only. You lose. Because the curators partake your self vote.
I love @sndbox too. How I wish be one of the fellows.
I hear what you're saying about the Nay for small bids. Looking at my data it definitely pays more if you place big bids.
Sndbox is now curating a lot of non sndbox member posts so you don't need to be a fellow to benefit from the sndbox community ❤
If you read their posts you'll know what the curation team is looking for, atm I believe it's Philosophy posts.
I was going to do a post just like this, you are totally spot on with everything you are saying about the bots. With careful bidding using Steembottracker you can basically get your investment back and grow some Steem Power - which has to be better then just putting earnings straight into Steem Power. Plus by increasing the upvote on your post you increase the perceived importance (I know it shouldn't be like that but it is) and will generally help the post grow in upvotes as it gains more exposure and sharing.
The key thing with the bid bots is to watch the Max Suggested Bid and wait until the last minutes of the bot - if the Max Suggested Bid is small or 0 then just wait until the next round. The bigger the Max Suggested Bid value - the more you will gain from your investment.
#thealliance
you have to believe mommy after that day! there are group of people here always to support you " US ''remember when you said we are "family" I meant it... support comes along your way.. have FAITH AND TRUST..
Awww @jezmacher, Thank You.
But I am hustling so I can support YOU guys. I feel like it's not so much your job to support me but it's my job to support you and the rest of the family ❤
One day soon I'll be able to pay you guys for the work you do in the fam by way of upvotes lol
let us appreciate what we have today.. let the day exist as it is... we really don't need to expect too much and go beyond on that expectations.. we are all working here as a family as a team... have fun all the time..
❤ let me promote you into core. we'll work that fun out of you 😉 jk
thank you Jez xx
try to look my profile.. some post don't gain that much.. still I appreciate a single upvote or comment. that's why I never forget to upvote my post.. it should start with self appreciation.. instead of thinking too much I choose to believe on the positive vibes.. it's the spirit of family and fun... hehehehe