Experimenting With Bots & The Importance of Communtiy Bots (Services).
BID BOTS
Yes, another post on bots, but with a twist!
Over the past months there has been a lot of talk about "bots", all sorts of views and opinions expressed from Steemians all over the world!
I am not going to be addressing or expressing an opinion on how "bid bots" are good or bad or loved or hated. What I wish to do is to look into all these non Whale sized bid bots.
I have experimented with bots in the past, literally to see how they perform and to build up some SBD doing it, so that I can use the bots to upvote others when I want to give a Whale sized vote, so I made sure I did as much good as I thought possible with the SBD earned. What I wish to look into now is how the Steemians who do not have the big sized votes available in their bots are performing.
Call me a romantic, I do believe in giving the "little guy" a fair chance, after all some of these people are really trying to make it. They see an opportunity to earn some income in a way that has been made available to them. They don't necessarily have the support from delegators/investors and so they are left to themselves and possibly a few other Minnows and or Dolphins who may be working with them.
Some of them split the profits made with the investors/delegators, which is exactly what the bigger and better known bot owners are doing. So in essence they are not necessarily making one person "rich" but in fact sharing the profits with those who invest into their business.
Why am I doing this?
Well, first and foremost, I don't like talking about things if I am not 100% certain, or at least without asking someone who is better informed. In this case, I see that one of the only ways to get informed is to go head first and do it first hand. It may take a while and it shall definitely give me a better understanding of it all.
Another reason is the fact that I actually have gotten to know one of the smaller bid bot owners. A guy who is not from a rich country, a guy who hasn't got a bed of roses at home and who's father has been working overseas for years now trying to ensure his children can get a good education and life. So, hopefully this may debunk the theory of "all bot owners being greedy rich people who want to make millions of dollars".
So, let's see what my playing with the smaller bots brings me and what all conclusions I have after this little "experiment".
Wish me luck!
Note: I am in no way promoting or advertizing any bot service. I am in no way suggesting that anyone should or shouldn't use bots. All I am stating is that I am going to be experimenting with some of the smaller paying bid bot services to find out first hand and then share my experiences at a later date.
COMMUNITY BOTS
I am still a firm believer in community bots!
What do I see as a community bot?
In my opinion a community bot is a service set up by the people for the people.
Wow, talk about a strong statement!
Why, well, independence is what people seek here. Yes, people want to make money and become financially independent.
Communities are popping up all over the place, this social networking platform is BOOMING!
However, so many people are still "hoping" to get noticed by whales, so that they may get a nice plump upvote!
Well, this is where the community bots come into it.
When a community combines its resources it is in fact a Whale!
Think about that, a bot (account) made up of delegations from the community members and each and every member has access to a Whale vote!
No wishful thinking, no "hoping to get noticed" but a sure fire way to ensure you as a member of a community whos members have all pitched in and combined their resources get the Whale vote you so passionately desire and deserve!
Independence!
Maybe I as an individual do not have the SP to become a Whale, but 100 of us combined do!
So when a community bot is made it is actually helping build this platform and the social network aspects of it and just as importantly it helps build financial independence for each and every member of the communities that they are a part of.
Remember, each and every one of us is active all over the platform. We upvote various posts from various people and not all those people are members of the same communities. So the upvotes and SP we earn from community bots are spread out all over the platform to people from various parts of this world! So it isn't a "circle jerk" as some would like to present it as. It is people working with people, networking and in turn sharing the wealth!
I hope that this short little intro into how important community services are here in our endeavour!
"United we stand, divided we fall" as the old sayings state!
Thanks for your time and the next time you see a community bot, remember, even if you are not a member of that particular community, there is a good chance that members of that community have upvoted your posts or comments and you too have enjoyed a part of the rewards!
For a great set of guidelines as to what all a community bot should entail, here are links to a few posts that I personally believe should become a "Template" for all community bots (services):
Governance Model for a Community Bot
&
Policy Parameters for a Community Bot
Which are in line with my personal opinions on how things should be done, ref:
TOP Politics = Transparent, Open & Public Politics!
Hopefully I have managed to relay my thoughts here.
Great post @jackmiller you had me right on board with the community bot stuff and then I saw the links at the bottom. Thanks for the shout out :)
I know some see community bots as a form of circle jerk, but I maintain it is definitely a lesser evil than buy-a-vote rent seeking bots and their investors. At least with community bots the vote power stays within the community that is supporting it and engaging.
Was replying to @ironshield when you wrote this comment, so I guess all I need to do is to say:
"Check out my reply below"
Yeah, we do need to build awareness and help inform people, we all want financial independence and to get there we need to know what tools we have available.
Thanks Jack, I know that community bots like minnow support and centrelink, make the world of difference to newbies averaging 2-3c a post. I have never tried any other type of bot before though, so personally, I am looking forward to your results :)
Peace.
Well, there is one way to find out!
"Try it out" and why not give the smaller guys a fair chance, they seem to be buried under all the smog about the bid bots. Figured I need to check them all out first hand and get to see what all I learn!
As for the community bots, check out my reply to @ironshield. (don't need to retype it here, I'm lazy!)
Well a selfless mentality and an act of humanity from some big bid-bot may have helped people grow, but it's like one step forward, two steps back really.
Your intentions are really good Jack, you do so much with selfless intentions
Understanding is the key to building a healthy environment and relationship.
My relationship with bots has improved as the bots improve. They are becoming more fair and effective all the time. @ironshield
Well, they are here and we need to all become aware of who, what, how, when and WHY!
I respect EVERYTHING that people express as an opinion, but hands on, first hand experience is sometimes the best way to come to some new and better conclusions.
Like I said, I actually have gotten to know one of the small bot owners, saw that it was a person trying to ensure an income in addition to his blogging etc. This to me was an eye opener back then, although I personally do see the need for the solution presented by Ned for an alternative/parallel means of promoting Proof of Brain!
ref: GOOD PERSON TOKEN: Something Big Is Coming From Steemit Inc!
As for the community bots, I somewhat feel that many community members are not aware of just how influential these can be to their progress here (in a financial way).
Some may feel that their 20SP, later 30SP, 50, 100, 200, 500 SP delegations are too much to "give" to a community bot.
Yet they fail to see that the vote that they can get from such a community service is somewhat 10 times greater than what they would get if they "self vote" their own posts!
&
it takes everyone in the community to make it greater than just great!
Why wait for a Whale to notice you?
When you can help build a whale that all the community members can have vote on their posts?
Isn't that one of the key goals in building a community here on this platform?
So after a few chats on Discord, in particular with @linnyplant, who actually got me motivated to write this post, that is, to share these thoughts here, I think we need to build awareness on the opportunities such community bots offer to all members and just how important each and every member is in achieving financial independence.
yessssss!!!! Such a beautiful sentence!!!!!!
Thanks, @jackmiller. @davemccoy mentioned your name, so I thought I’d check out your blog.
Glad I did.
I’ve never been 100% certain about the ethical difference between using bidbots and community bots. It’s a bit hard to explain what I actually mean with that (language barrier) , but you’ve just answered my questions and cleared out my doubts. :0)
On top of that, I like that you take the time to point out that not all bot owners are the greedy big ones who only want to get more of what they already have.
It’s a refreshing perspective I had not seen elsewhere before.
I’ll be following up on how your experiment works out.
And euh... nice to meet you ;0)
Looking forward to how the bot experiment works out. Good advice on community's getting together to make it better for all.
Top stuff! Community bots are really a good idea as part of a solution to help glue a community into a coherent group. I run a community account for classical music (heh, a bit niche here), and at the moment it is completely manual. I think I will read over what you have written to see if there is a way to make it automated and somehow resist abuse.
This is really interesting and one of the controversial topic of this platform, in my opinion and my view point towards Bid Bot is, it's an paid service where you want to promote your product (BLOG POST) and to get more exposure and to buildup the followership, and these kind of services are not new, promotion concept is an ancient concept and we should not look it as an negative, but we can make it more meaningful in aspect which you inform (Community Bots), and then the set of whale votes will going to spread effectively and as you said not only community members, other members also can get the upvotes now and then. And i want to wish good luck to you towards the experimentation of Small bid bots to understand the effectivity, and we really need analysis instead of negative words and false war on this topic and now you come up with an analytical experimentation. Thanks for sharing this post with us and wishing you an great day. Stay blessed. 🙂
100% according to you friend @jackmiller.
I do not have a great SP, but when I see this type of community bot initiatives, I like and support them (delegating or giving reestem). Because the priority is not to get rich one person, but to earn a little several people. And to help the small users, without cheating them.
I was recently supporting a community bot project called @zenozama made by @nnnarvaez, for now, at his request, withdraw my small delegation.
Waiting for a similar project, and support as much as possible.
A question. @jackmillerbot will be a community bot ??
regards
No, my jackmillerbot will be my 24/7 support bot for all the people who have supported me to date.
A little way of making sure I don't miss anyone, because I just can't seem to keep up manually. So this way if I miss something, my bot won't.
Right now, I am only testing it and monitoring the VP usage.
All right, I hope the tests are positive.
And grateful and congratulations, For always look for ways to help people.
Greetings, Jack. a hug.