I am in agreement with your assessment of things relating to bots in general.

I guess where I would take it a step further is to call bots a work around for the Steemit platform. I haven't used one myself yet (a bot did upvote a post of mine once, though), and I would rather keep it that way.

But I do understand why people use them and I sympathize. As a plankton or minnow, your work just doesn't get in front of enough eyes. I don't blame anyone for wanting that to happen.

But then once they're used, it just becomes a part of the routine, even when you're a dolphin or an orca, so where does it ever stop?

There must be a better way.

What happens when Velocity is here and gone and people are coming on board by the hundreds of thousands? If it's hard to get noticed now, what's it going to be like then?

In the meantime, I suppose we keep writing about these things that need a better solution in hopes someone with a little more oomph than us will see it. I know they have to be aware of it. I know they're trying to address it with HF 20. And things are better after the last HF, so maybe HF 20 will do even more.