This seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. I believe with the influx of new members to the community and they're working understanding of the Bots that are being used, the benefits in which they bring to the table and the counter productivity that they threaten everyone with by misuse. Unfortunately this brings to the surface the possibility of abuse and censorship without accountability. The machines taking over is the basis of most of the Sci-Fi movies that are out there today and the future could very well be very grim for free thought and expression.
I think bots almost killed steemit once. I noticed that when bots showed up a year so so ago..the price of steem took a dive...and kept going down. It finally bottomed out at about .08. I wouldn't want to see that happen again but..
bots...they're doing what they did the first time.
I was surprised to see a bot introduced last week whose only function was to re-post content from "it's parent website". This is a popular site, very similar to the Dan Bilzerian following. It surprised me see that here. Free thinkers, artists, poets, photographers, financial "prophets", bloggers, vlogers, homesteaders, off-griders, anarchists, political commentators, social champions, etc, I thought this was their holy ground, free of censorship and being ostracized for having different views. However, when there are financial rewards, and in certain cases, penalties, then we must look at the men/women behind the green curtain to find their motivation. It's easy to pull the trigger when you are thousands of miles away cloaked behind a wall of secrecy built by ones and zeros. It is much harder to extinguish the embodiment of a thought in person, belly to belly, toe to toe and eye to eye.