I agree with you to a point. While I don't advocate routinely using the voting bots, I do at times use them. Usually on a post I want to give a shot in the arm to because of whatever reason I want to give it a shot in the arm. I always wait for a few hours to see if the post will get some traction on its own.

For those under a reputation of 52, Curie does an excellent job of finding and promoting posts of promising content creators.

Then there are those over that level, it's a constant struggle to try to gain some notice.

I spend countless hours on the site finding and sharing quality posts in the Steemit Ramble. That has evolved into a discord where people can nominate posts to be reviewed for possible inclusion in the Ramble.

A few weeks ago I started Pimp Your Post Thursday where I host a chat, morning and evening, where people can present their posts and network with those in attendance. The sessions are getting a growing response. I publish within a day or so a report of the posts shared.

It's an effort to try to help people get noticed. Sometimes it feels like a soapbox on an obscure little corner and I can only give minimal help. I keep plugging and slowly growing and hopefully some day, I can find a busier corner to help give some hard working Steemians some notice from.

In the meantime, those hard working people will likely feel the need to try to upvote their posts by purchasing from a voting bot which in some ways is not a lot different than boosting a post on FB by paying for more exposure. Well, yeah there is a difference, here they do get a small return if they choose the service wisely.